Flying Phoenix
by Jinova108
Summary: When an Imperial Droid capable of massive destruction is put into production, how will the Ghost crew handle the situation? (Sabine X OC) {Takes place after Blood Sisters and before Protector of Concord Dawn} [Reboot]
1. Chapter 1

Flying Phoenix

Chapter 1

It was a quiet day. Well, at least in some other place on the planet.

An Imperial facility is bustling. Stormtroopers doing laps around in respective squads, droids roaming about, and officers talking to each other.

Outside the Imperial facility however, was an open field. It was surrounded with sensor buoys and Imperial crates.

Agent Kallus and another individual appear to be with some troopers. The other man seemed to be quite eager.

"Spare me the details, doctor." Kallus groaned. "I would like to get underway as soon as possible."

"I assure you, Agent." The man advised. "My creation will bring in a new wave of fighting regime for the Empire!"

From afar, a particular group of heroes are surveying the area. There were a couple of unconscientious Stormtrooper corpses behind them.

"What do you see?" Kanan asked.

"Uh…" Sabine muttered. "A couple squads at the entrance, and troopers surrounding that area. Can't count how many though."

Ezra took out his binoculars and checked it out for himself. Sabine was right.

"This is weird." He commented.

"How so?" Sabine asked.

"Why would there be so many Stormtroopers in a place like this?" Ezra asked.

Sabine looked at the base again.

"Well, now that you mention it…" She added. "That is a crazy amount of troops."

Kanan took a brief scan of the area. There were a lot of Stormtroopers. But he had no time to take risks.

"Look, it doesn't matter if they have an army." He told them. "We have a job to do."

Kanan turned around and spoke to Zeb.

"Hey, we clear?" He asked.

"Yep." Zeb replied. "We might be able to sneak through."

"Alright then." Kanan concluded.

He turned to Sabine and Ezra, who were still looking at the outsides of the base.

"Alright. Let's move." He ordered.

Sabine and Ezra complied. They got up and quickly slid down the hill they were on top of.

Back at the field, the doctor, now named Ignus Tiebo, was still gloating the capability of his creation to Agent Kallus.

"I assure you, Agent." He said. "You have a fighting machine by your side! Literally!"

Agent Kallus raised his hand.

"Are you done?" He asked.

"Well… yes?" Ignus replied.

"Then would you like to show me this "fighting machine" of yours?" Kallus asked. "I need to get my report in."

"Yes, yes, of course!" Ignus said.

He motioned two troopers over. One of the troopers nodded and began to walk towards a crate. But he was cut off by the alarms suddenly blaring into the ears.

Kallus quickly grabbed his holocommunicator and contacted one of the squad captains.

"Captain!" He called. "What is going on?"

"Rebels, sir!" The captain answered. "They have infiltrated the base!"

"Hold them off for as long as you can!" Kallus ordered. "I'll be there!"

He then began to set off, but he was cut off by Ignus.

"Dr. Tiebo! Step aside!" He ordered.

"Agent Kallus, please!" Ignus assured. "This attack by them is actually well timed!"

"How so?" Kallus asked.

"Allow me to demonstrate my creation." Ignus asked. "If you would allow me to, of course."

Kallus grimaced. He didn't have time to waste on this idiot, but then again, he might the key to suppress the rebels.

"Very well." Kallus finally sighed.

Ignus smiled. He motioned the trooper from before. The trooper nodded and continued walking over to the crate. He pressed some button on the side. That resulted in a hatch opening on the crate.

From inside the crate, there was some robotic whirring. Then there were loud jerks of mechanical movements as the object inside activated. Then, there was a single bar of red light. Two troopers then walked over and rolled out the object. The object slowly stood up slowly. It was massive.

"This will give those rebels a swift loss…" Dr. Tiebo chuckled.

 **(Insert Star Wars Rebels title sequence here)**

There was a standoff right now. Sabine and Zeb would often stop and shoot down some troopers, while Ezra and Kanan deflected some shots.

"Well, is this new guys?" Sabine asked, still shooting.

"Nope!" Zeb replied. "Not at all!"

The Stormtroopers are still shooting. And like they always do, they were missing. Suddenly, there were loud thuds. Some Stormtroopers stopped shooting just to look in the direction of where the sound is coming from. Then, Agent Kallus contacted the captain.

"Captain." He said. "Pull your forces back. Dr. Tiebo is initiating his field test."

"Yes, sir." The captain replied.

He then motioned all of his forces to pull back. All Stormtroopers moved back slowly. The rebels had taken cover, but once the Stormtroopers stopped firing, they slowly lifted their heads to see.

"Hey, what's going on?" Ezra asked.

That question was answered. They saw a giant droid on the side of the Stormtroopers. It had only one orange bar to serve as eyes, and it had a large stature. It had a submachine blaster for its right arm, and a metal hand on its left arm. It was also colored in black and purple. It also had a large cylinder on its back. On his shoulder pads, it had the Imperial Logo on one, and the other had a logo, which appeared to be a grey hexagon shaped like an S with a purple dash through it. The droid took a good few seconds to observe the rebels.

"Okay… that's new?" Zen commented.

That prompted the droid to move. It raised its gun arm, and began shooting. Once the shooting began, the Ghost crew quickly ducked back down. The bolts the droid shot whizzed by their cover and began covering the doors in front of them in blast burns.

"What should we do?" Ezra asked in shouty voice.

"This!" Kanan responded.

He then popped up, pulling out his blaster. He quickly took aim, and shot the droid. The blast landed right on its face. It caused the droid to stumble, and Kanan had a premature jubilation. But that stopped when the droid got back on its feet and glared down at Kanan.

"That's… not good." He commented.

The droid beeped twice, and then its torso turned around. Its arms folded in as well. Its legs extended outward, and placed themselves in front of the heel. The cylinder on its back, now in front, folded down, the top now facing the door. The behemoth that was the submachine droid became a six-barreled machine gun turret. Ezra, Zeb, and Sabine looked up just in time to see the whole process go down.

"That's… not a good sign." Ezra commented.

That's when the turret began firing. Kanan ducked back down as well as the others. The turret began to mow down the air just above them. The Stormtroopers were just watching this whole thing.

Kallus just arrived at the scene. He also saw how the droid was just shooting at the door. He then realized that the rebels were just behind some cover in front of the door.

"Captain!" He called.

The captain turned and saw Kallus.

"Sir." He replied.

"What are we waiting for?" Kallus asked. "Open fire!"

The Stormtroopers all raised their weapons and began firing. Now the air above the rebels were now clouded with lasers.

"Hey!" Sabine called out. "How about fighting back?"

"Oh sure!" Ezra joked. "If you want to die faster!"

Kanan groaned. He just reached out to his commlink and contacted Hera.

"Hera!" He shouted. "Where are you?"

"I'm landing outside!" Hera responded. "Just exit and I'll be there!"

Kanan put his comm down and then turned his attention to the others.

"Alright, listen up!" He shouted. "Ezra and I are going to make a small opening. Sabine! You and Zeb get that door open!"

"You're the boss!" Sabine responded.

The laser barrage was still hot. There was barely any opening for Kanan and Ezra to stand to provide Sabine and Zeb that opening. But Kanan had to take the chance.

"Ezra!" He called. "You ready?"

"Always!" Ezra replied.

"NOW!" Kanan ordered.

Ezra and Kanan then rolled out of their cover and use a Force-Push. That flew the Stormtroopers and Agent Kallus back, and the turret droid only slid on the metal floor.

"Sabine!" Ezra yelled. "Now's your chance!"

Sabine nodded and quickly got to the door controls. She pressed some buttons, and the doors slid opened.

"Okay!" She cheered. "We're clear!"

Zeb, Ezra, and Kanan, in that order, then bolted for the outside. The turret reverted back to its droid form and followed them. Kallus and the Stormtroopers recovered a bit later and followed after the droid.

"Hera!" Ezra said into his commlink. "We're at the LZ!"

"Comin' down now!" Hera answered.

The Ghostsoon came into view. It descended down slowly. The bay door opened. It revealed a stout little astromech droid flailing its arms about.

"Calm down, Chopper!" Kanan assured. "We're coming!"

The droid saw the Ghostand it reacted. It turned back into its turret form and began to rain bullets. The Ghost's shield began taking massive damage.

"Hey!" Hera called. "If you guys want to hurry up down there; the shields can't take much more of this!"

"Copy that!" Zeb responded.

The crew slowly began to board the Ghost. The turret droid turned from the cockpit to the entrance and began shooting the bay. A bullet just grazed Ezra's arm. Ezra stumbled over. Kanan helped him onboard.

"Okay, Hera!" Sabine said. "We're all onboard! Time to jet!"

Hera smiled, and pulled the Ghost out of the LZ. The turret droid wasn't having it though. It kept on shooting. As the bullet stream continued, it got a critical hit on one of the boosters on the Ghost, which rocked the ship a bit before it took off out of the planet.

The turret slowed down. The turret returned to its droid form. It then shut down. Kallus and the Stormtroopers walked up to the droid. Kallus observed the droid, and the Stormtroopers quickly secured the area.

"Agent Kallus." The captain asked. "Should we have our fighter pursue them?"

"No." Kallus replied. "The rebels win this round."

He then grabbed his holocommunicator.

"Dr. Tiebo." He smiled. "Your test was an extraordinary. I will certain to give a good report."

"Excellent news!" Ignus replied. "And with that, they will be in full production! I will notify my supervisor immediately!"

"Of course." Kallus agreed.

He then turned to the captain and advised him to notify him if the rebels are spotted again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Ghost is now docked with one of the cruisers of Phoenix Squadron. Ezra is currently on his way to the bridge for a briefing from Commander Sato. He was just coming back from getting his injury treated. He quickly entered the bridge in a hurry.

"Sorry I'm late!" He said.

After a stern look from Sato, he quickly placed himself near the table.

"So, according to the report from Kanan." He explained. "There is a new type of Imperial droid."

The table then displayed a hologram of the droid the Ghost crew just fought. It first showed it in its droid form, and then it showed it in its turret form.

"This thing is tough." Kanan added. "Not even a shot to the head is enough to take it out."

They continued to discuss how to deal with this new development.

"Hey." Ezra said. "What's that thing on its back in turret form?"

He pointed at that thing. It seemed to be a rectangular box housing a power source of some kind. Sato enlarged that image, but he couldn't make anything out of it.

"It appears to be a generator of some kind." Sato stated.

Sabine looked at it closely. She felt like she saw this somewhere before.

"I knew it!" She suddenly shouted. "I saw this somewhere before!"

That caught everyone's attention.

"Wait, Sabine." Kanan asked. "You saw this before?"

"I think." Sabine answered with a hint of hesitation. "When I was at the base, I got a glimpse of that."

"I wasn't able to make much out of it because we were on time constraint." She continued. "But what I did get is that the power source is basic pure energy."

"Pure energy?" Hera asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zeb asked.

"It means it can't be destroyed." Sabine replied.

There was silence. Murmurs were going on with how they are going to deal with this. Meanwhile, Sabine had somewhat of an idea to deal with these droids.

"I think I have an idea on how to deal with this thing." She suggested.

Everyone at the table turned their attention to her.

"What do you have in mind?" Sato asked.

"I'll have to call an old friend though." Sabine replied.

"What does this friend of yours have to do with this?" Kanan asked.

"He's seen this kind of technology before." Sabine explained. "He could help us in this situation."

Kanan thought about this. He was worried. He can't be sure if this friend of Sabine could be a potential spy for the Empire.

"Oh yeah." Sabine mentioned. "He and I broke out of the Imperial Academy at about the same time."

Even after that, Kanan was uncertain. It was only after Hera told him that this may be the only way to deal with it he finally caved in.

"Okay then." He replied shortly. "Call your friend."

Sabine nodded and quickly left the bridge. She was going to the Ghost.

"You sure about this?" Zeb asked.

"She trusted us to tell us about her friend." Kanan responded. "Now, it's time to return that trust."

"Heh." Ezra joked, nudging his master. "And you say she's the one with trust issues."

Kanan chuckled, and returned to Sato's briefing.

Sabine approached the door of her room. She looked around and made sure no one was around. She breathed in. When her door opened, she took one step in, and Chopper surprised her with a loud roar. Sabine jumped back in a startle, banging her head on the doorframe ceiling and falling on her bum.

"Ow…" She groaned.

Chopper chortled and rolled away, still laughing. Sabine sighed. She wasn't in the mood to go after the annoying tin can. She got back up and entered her room. She looked for her holocommunicator. When she found it, she set it up on her table. And once she finished setting up, she contacted her friend. As the communicator dialed the call, Sabine did something rather unusual for her. She dusted herself off, and she brushed her hair a bit. Then, she sat down with her legs together, placing her hands on her lap.

The holocommunicator beeped for a short minute then it stopped. The call went through. There was audio, but no hologram. Sabine then rested her head on her hand, but what startled her was the audio that went through.

"Hello?" The audio said. "Is this thing on?"

Sabine got up and listened to the audio. It was amusing, to say the least.

"Bee!" The audio shouted. "I thought you fixed the transmitter!"

"I did!" A different audio yelled. "Try it again!"

Then there were gears turning and some clanking. The hologram slowly appeared.

"I have to do everything around here!" The hologram figure groaned as he slowly appeared.

He paused. He looked around and realized that the holograms were working. Sabine just waved at him, trying to hold back her laugh.

"Hi." She smiled.

"You never heard this." The figure told her.

"Don't worry." Sabine joked. "My lips are sealed."

Then, the figure picked himself up and looked professional.

"So, Sabine." He said. "What can I do for ya?"

"Well, Felix…" Sabine began. "I have something to ask…"

"Does it involve a bucket?" Felix asked.

"Uh… no?" Sabine answered.

"I'm in." Felix chuckled.

Phoenix Squadron flew at a slow pace in space. Sato sat at the head console, while the Ghost crew just stood by as other rebels were busily doing their work.

"This is the rendezvous." Sato said.

Sabine and the others looked out the window screen. There was just a black void.

"I thought you said he'd be here." Zeb commented.

"He'll be here, don't worry." Sabine assured.

That's when a ship jumped out of hyperspace and into view of Phoenix Squadron.

"There it is." Sabine smiled. "The _Iced Shell_."

"The _Iced Shell_?" Ezra laughed.

"Don't look at me." Sabine said. "He named it, not me."

The ship approached the main command ship of Phoenix Squadron. It folded its boosters up and docked on the other side.

The Ghost crew walked to the other docking port. They now stood by the entry hallway.

"Alright, anything you want to tell us before he comes onboard?" Hera asked.

"Just that he won't be the only one you'll be seeing." Sabine replied.

The doors slid open. The moment the door was completely out of the way, an eager gold and purple astromech droid rolled right up to Sabine and began to beep wildly.

"Whoa, whoa there!" She called. "R8, I missed you too!"

She then rubbed the small astromech gently and caringly. The droid purred in delight.

"I thought I told you to stay on the ship." Grumbled another voice.

There was metal clanking that seem to be steps. Ducking to avoid the door, the other voice soon introduced himself.

"Salutations." He said. "I am B2-G5. I am a reprogrammed Imperial droid."

The crew looked at the stature of the droid. He was tall. But while his torso was bulky, his arms and legs were relatively thin. And he was in black with hints of orange here and there.

"I see you are the friend Felix told us about." B2 said, looking down at Sabine

Zeb growled at the droid, but Ezra held him back.

"Be nice…" Ezra warned him.

"It's okay, kid." Said another voice. "People tend to be like that when they see a droid like Bee."

The crew looked behind Bee and saw one more figure walking towards them.

He was in Mandalorian armor. But in contrast to Sabine's colors of Magenta and orange, his was in gun metal silver and light silver. On his wrists were gauntlets. On his left gauntlet, it housed twin barrels that served as laser guns. The side had a small panel. It housed a small missile. His right gauntlet was different. While it did have the same twin barrel laser guns, there was something else right below it. It had some kind of pad that seemed to have controls of the jetpack behind him.

The figure was also holding his helmet on his side. The helmet was also gun metal grey and light silver, much like his armor. But different from traditional helmets, it had a glowing blue visor.

"Felix…" Sabine cooed.

Then, right in front of everyone, Sabine just hugged Felix. It wasn't a huge hug, but it was enough to send a message. Realizing what she just did, Sabine pulled back quickly.

"You were that excited to see me?" Felix asked in a taunting voice.

"Well… no!" Sabine answered quickly.

They just looked at each other for brief few moments before Hera cut them off.

"Hate to break the reunion." Hera interrupted. "Commander Sato would really like to meet you."

Felix snapped back into reality and responded.

"Oh, yes." Felix replied. "Of course."

He then began to walk with Hera closely behind. R8 and Bee sniggered quietly together and followed. Then, Zeb and Kanan went along. Sabine sighed and then walked. Ezra went up to her.

"What was that about?" He asked.

"Nothing." Sabine responded.

Then she slowly picked up pace and walked away from Ezra. Ezra chuckled at the sight. He knew what this was.

Felix was being briefed on the droid by Commander Sato. The Ghost crew are also listening on.

"So, according to your friend Sabine." Sato said. "You have experience with a droid like this?"

He then pressed a button. The hologram of the droid appeared on the table. Felix observed the droid closely.

"I think so…" Felix pondered. "I think I know what is powered by…"

He looked at the hologram closely.

"There is a way to deal with this droid." Felix replied shortly.

"Is there?" Zeb asked. "Constant shooting did nothing."

"That's the physical approach." Felix answered. "There is a pragmatic approach."

He motioned R8 over. The small droid rolled over and plugged in. She flipped around and displayed the hologram of the droid in turret form. It rotated it to the backside.

"You see that?" Felix asked.

"Yeah we do." Kanan said. "What about it?"

"We disconnect it, and the behemoth stops." Felix explained.

Everybody stopped and then thought about it.

"All we have to do is get close to the thing." Felix finished. "Where did you see it?"

"An Imperial test base not far from here." Hera answered.

"Alright then. Let's go." Felix concluded.

He and his droids then began to exit.

"You're not going alone." Kanan reminded.

"I'm not." Felix answered. "I have you guys."

He continued walking down the halls. The Ghost crew quickly went after him.

"The Ghost is too damaged!" Hera mentioned.

Felix stopped. He turned around to face Hera.

"We're taking my ship." Felix replied. "It'll be a lot less susceptible to suspicion."

"And… if I'm being honest." He added, knocking on the walls. "My ship doesn't exactly scream 'Rebellion'."

Hera thought on that for a bit. Felix wasn't wrong. They always brought the Ghost on every mission as of now. The Empire would definitely have taken notes of the Ghost's status.

"I see your point." Hera admitted. "We'll be there shortly."

"I'll be waiting." Felix said.

Then, he walked towards his ship. Hera turned to her crew and told them to get their gear.

In a little while later, Bee and R8 are prepping the Iced Shell for the mission, and maybe a battle. The Ghost crew then boarded with everything they needed.

"Everybody on board?" Felix asked.

"We're all on." Kanan responded.

Felix walked up to the bridge and sat down at the controls. He flipped switches and pressed a couple buttons.

Bee pressed the comms.

"Commander Sato." He said. "We're ready for our departure."

"Very well." Sato replied over the speaker. "You are clear for jump. Good luck."

"Thank you." Bee replied.

The Iced Shell then detached from the command ship. Folding its boosters back down, it flew to an open space ahead. And in a brief moment, it went into hyperspace.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The _Iced Shell_ is now traveling through hyperspace Felix told Bee to tell when they arrive. He then exited the cockpit, and made his way to the lower deck of his ship. The Ghost crew were just chilling out on the living room.

"Okay, I'll admit." Hera commented. "This is a fine ship."

"Yeah." Felix agreed, dusting off a nearby table. "She's been through a lot, but she's tough."

Hera chuckled. At least he keeps his ship in order.

"Would you… like a tour?" Felix asked. "We've got some time."

"Thanks, but no need." Hera replied.

Felix sighed.

"Okay then." Felix replied. "I'll at the cargo hold if you need me."

Felix then walked past Hera and down to the lower deck. Hera turned to Kanan, who was leaning on a wall.

"Well?" She asked.

"Huh?" Kanan muttered.

"What do you think of him?" Hera asked.

Kanan thought about his answer. He didn't want to sound hypocritical, but he had to give an honest answer.

"Okay." He admitted. "I guess was to rash on my judgment about the guy."

"It's like I said: We need all the help we can get." Hera added.

Kanan chuckled, and then he looked around.

"Hey, where'd Ezra go?" He asked.

Ezra had ventured back into the cargo area of the ship. He was looking around. He saw that Felix had a ton of crates looted from Imperial installations and what not.

"Wow…" He whispered. "This guy's got more stuff than we ever got for the fleet!"

Then he noticed another crate. It was unmarked by any Imperial insignia, and it was slightly ajar. Ezra knew he shouldn't be snooping around, but his curiosity got the best of him. He walked over to the crate and pushed the lid aside. It was anticlimactic for him. It was just filled with some kind of metal.

"Whoa…" He said in awe.

He slowly reached out to touch the metal.

"Hey!" shouted a voice.

Ezra quickly turned around and saw Felix. He quickly walked to him and quickly cut Ezra off from that crate.

"This is palladium." Felix explained. "Any form of consumption could kill you!"

Felix quickly grabbed the lid for the palladium crate and closed it, but not before he grabbed a little snippet of the metal.

"If that's the case, why do you even have that stuff?" Ezra asked.

"Reasons you shouldn't be concerned with." Felix quickly replied. "Just get back to living room and wait."

And with that, Felix quickly rushed out of the cargo area and went to his room. Ezra tried to follow, but ultimately, the door slammed in his face. He wanted to ask, but he stopped himself. He just looked away and walked back. When he made it back to living room, he saw Kanan and Hera were still talking about something, while Zeb was appeared to playing dejarik with R8. Don't ask how they found it. He quietly sat himself next to Sabine, who hadn't said anything since they left. He whistled a bit before initiating a conversation with her.

"So…" He started. "Felix… seems nice."

Sabine smiled weakly.

"Yeah." She replied. "He is."

"How did you guys meet up, exactly?" Ezra continued.

"Heh." Sabine chuckled, remembering how she and Felix first met. "There's actually a story behind it."

"Let's hear it then." Asked a voice.

Sabine looked up and saw Kanan and Hera standing over them. Ezra looked behind and saw Zeb was leaning on the seat too. R8 had left to help Bee at the controls.

"When did you guys get here?" Ezra asked.

"Just now." Zeb replied.

"I'm interested to hear how you two met." Hera added.

Sabine sighed.

"Alright." She said. "You might want to get comfortable."

 _So, I was at my second year at the Imperial Academy. But the thing was that the older students tend to pick on the younger ones. Why the staff didn't bother to look into the discipline of that place I'll never know. But I was defending one of the rookie students, but the older students took no notice for it. They just grabbed me and just beat me. And if I'm being honest, I would've been beaten to a pulp if Felix hadn't shown up. He helped me to an infirmary and that was the last time I saw him._

 _I met him again a few weeks later at one of my classes. I decided to talk to him about that fight. We hit it off pretty well. Afterwards, we began to hang out a lot more. I will emphasize here that we were NOT dating. Ketsu and the others just teased us about it, but that really didn't let that bother us._

 _Now, when we broke out from the Academy, Felix tagged along with us. We stayed together until the heat died down, and then we went on our separate ways._

"And I'll say this right now." Sabine finished. "This was the first time I've seen him in person after that. We kept in touch through communications, but other than that, he was on his own."

"Well, I was." Felix's voice chimed in.

Everyone turned and saw Felix leaning on the door.

"You were right about me being alone." He said. "But when I got R8 and Bee, I wasn't alone."

"You Mandalorians had clans, don't you?" Kanan asked. "Didn't you have them?"

"That's… a sore subject." Felix said.

When the talk about clans came up, Sabine perked up. She spoke up, but she stopped when Bee turned on the inter comms.

"Felix. We're approaching the base." He said.

"Get the ship cloaked. I'll be right there." Felix replied.

He quickly turned to the Ghost crew.

"Get ready." He told them.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Felix made it to the bridge. He sat down next to Bee, and then slowly piloted the ship out of hyperspace. The _Iced Shell_ gently glided down towards the planet's atmosphere. However, Bee flew the ship a bit up in the sky. He didn't land on the ship.

"Alright." Felix said, patting Bee's shoulder. "Keep her steady. And get ready to fly down when I call."

"Copy that." Bee replied.

Felix left the bridge and grabbed his gear from his room. He later found the Ghost crew in the cargo area.

"Alright." Kanan said. "What's the plan?"

Felix smirked and walked over to a panel. He pressed some buttons. That resulted the bottom doors opened up to reveal clouds right below them.

"What are you doing?" Hera asked.

"If we land, it would only be a matter of time before the ship is spotted." Felix explained. "We're just going to jump onto the surface."

"That makes sense…" Zeb commented. "If you took in the fact that not all of us can fly!"

"Don't worry. I took that into consideration." Felix said. "R8, Kanan, Ezra, Sabine, and myself will go. The rest of you take point on the ship."

Felix turned to Hera.

"Take good care of her while I'm gone, okay?" He asked.

"Of course." Hera replied.

R8 rolled over to Sabine. She cheekily shook her body at her.

"So, I assume you're going to give me a ride?" She asked with a smirk.

Felix cracked his neck.

"Everyone ready?" He asked.

"Yep." Ezra replied.

Then, with that said, Felix backflipped off of the ship. Kanan and Ezra followed suit, and Sabine, grabbing onto R8, jumped off as well. They plummeted down as Hera and Zeb closed the bottom panel.

The team kept on falling through the sky. The air brushed through the Jedi's hair, while the air just brushed past the visors of the Mandos helmets. R8 beeped as she looked around the sky. Then the ground, and the base slowly came through the clouds and into view of the team.

"7 seconds." Felix said through his communicator.

The rest of the team nodded, and continued down. When the ground was in range, Kanan force pushed in front of him to slow down his momentum. And with that, Kanan landed on the ground with a roll. Ezra tried to do the same thing, but instead of doing gracefully like Kanan, he couldn't stop himself. So, Kanan had to help him. The result was Ezra gently landing, face first, onto the ground.

R8 flipped around and activated her rocket boosters. However, Sabine lost grip of R8. She just plummeted down towards the ground. Felix noticed this, and quickly rolled over to her.

R8 gently landed onto the ground. She then rolled over to Ezra and Kanan.

"Hey, where's Sabine?" Ezra asked.

And right on cue, Sabine landed on the ground with one leg down and then tumbling a bit. After throwing off her helmet, she held her head.

"Hey, you okay?" Kanan asked, lifting her up.

"Yeah…" Sabine replied.

Felix appeared from the sky and landed in front of them, but he looked different. He had… wings? They were confused at first, when the wings folded into his back, they got even more confused. Felix took off his helmet so everyone could see his bright smile.

"Wait, what?" Ezra stuttered. "How did you do that?"

"Those were my wings." Felix explained. "These babies make flying a whole new experience."

"You're making me a pair of those, wise guy." Sabine joked.

With that friendly banter out of the way, the team made it towards the base. They took cover behind some rocks, and Sabine observed the base through some binoculars.

"Huh." She said.

"What do you see?" Kanan asked.

"Looks like security's been doubled since the last time we were here." Sabine explained. "And by the looks of things, it looks like we're not going to just waltz in there."

Felix took a peek at the base out of cover. He then motioned R8 over and R8 displayed the hologram of the base.

"Maybe some of us don't have waltz in there." He suggested. "How about we try the ol' distract and sneak in plan?"

"Who's going to do the distracting?" Ezra asked.

Felix then looked over to Kanan and Sabine.

"Can I trust you two with that?" He asked.

Sabine smiled as she put her helmet back on.

"You know who you're talking to right?" She chuckled, flipping out her pistols.

"Just make sure you do your job." Kanan said.

Then, the two quickly walked towards the base. That left Ezra, Felix, and R8 to figure out a way to enter the other way around.

Towards the base, two Stormtroopers were just guarding the entrance to the door. They were bored out of their minds, but they had nothing else to do.

"Hey." called one.

"Yeah?" replied the other.

"You ever wonder why we're here?" asked the other one.

The other one never got to reply as an explosion happened near them.

"We're under attack!" shouted the same one.

Just then, both Stormtroopers were shot down. Sabine flipped her pistols.

"Ah…" She said soothingly. "That felt good."

"Don't celebrate just yet!" Kanan assured.

A squad of Stormtroopers then emerged from inside the base and assaulted the two rebels. Kanan and Sabine quickly took cover, and began to start a standoff. And as these groups fought on, Ezra, Felix, and R8 quickly snuck through the Imperial lines and entered the base.

The three made it towards the main command center of the base, but not before shutting down some Stormtroopers along the way. They were now standing right outside of the door. Felix placed one finger on his lips to signal him to stay quiet. Then, Felix went inside. Ezra motioned to go in, but stopped when he heard Mandalorian blaster shots, people screaming, and glass shattering. Ezra walked inside, and saw dead Stormtroopers and Imperial officers, shattered glass shards, and Felix, with his helmet off, pressing on some computers.

"That was quick." Ezra commented.

"Duly noted." Felix said.

R8 beeped and rolled over to a port. She plugged in and began to download the things that she needed.

"Alright." Felix said. "Once she's done getting what we need, we're getting out of here."

"Got it." Ezra replied.

After a few minutes, R8 unplugged.

"Got anything?" Felix asked.

R8 beeped, and displayed a hologram. It was the schedule of the base's activities for the day.

"Looks like it's a schedule for the base." Ezra said.

He gestured to one of the lines.

"This one says "Shipment from Umbara at 2130."." He added. "What's the supposed to mean?"

"It means we might know where this new droid of yours is coming from." Felix concluded.

He patted R8's head, and he proceeded to run out of the command center. R8 and Ezra quickly followed suit. They ran down the hall. Ezra and R8 ran past an intersection, but Felix stopped when he saw something at that intersection. It was the same Imperial droid that the Ghost crew had fought in the beginning, but that wasn't what he was paying attention to. He was paying attention to the man that was accompanying the droid.

"Come along now!" Dr. Tiebo shouted. "We can't keep those rebels at bay forever!"

Felix noticed the logo on Tiebo's lab coat. It was the same logo on the droid. A grey S-shaped hexagon with a purple line slashed through it. Felix recognized it.

"Hey!" Ezra called. "You coming?"

Felix snapped back to reality, and looked over to Ezra.

"Go on ahead!" He shouted. "I'll catch up!"

Ezra nodded, and kept on running. R8 beeped and followed Ezra. Felix looked back at Tiebo, put on his helmet, cracked his neck, and slowly walked towards him.

Meanwhile, Sabine and Kanan were still having their shootout. The Stormtroopers were laying down some fire, but as to their usual standards, they kept missing.

"Where's Felix and Ezra?" Kanan shouted. "They should've come out by now!"

"We'll have to keep waiting!" Sabine shouted back.

Kanan kept on shooting, but he took a quick second to see check on the door. The door opened, and saw Ezra jump out. Ezra fired several shots, stunning several troopers. Ezra then force-pushed the troopers so that he and R8 could make it over to Kanan and Sabine.

"Nice of you to join us!" Kanan shouted.

"Hey! I had other things to do!" Ezra retorted.

Then they quickly went back to the gun fight ensuing.

"Wait!" Sabine called. "Where's Felix?"

"Don't worry!" Ezra shouted. "He's coming!"

They went back to shooting. The Stormtroopers shot on, but one by one, they began to drop like flies.

"Well." Ezra chuckled. "That was quick."

And then, as if on cue, the Imperial droid walked into the battle with the glow of death on its one solid bar of orange light.

"And you jinxed us." Sabine stated.

But when the droid pointed its blaster at them, it just strangely shut down.

"Wait, what happened?" Kanan asked.

Then, the three climbed out of cover to see what happen next. The doors of the base busted open and Tiebo tumbled outside. Tiebo gathered himself as Felix slowly walked towards him.

"You." Felix said with anger visible in his voice. "That logo. What is it?"

"Why should I tell you?" Tiebo tested.

"Let me ask you a different question then." Felix sneered. "Hammer. You know the name?"

"Well, yes!" Tiebo replied. "What does that matter to you?"

"Tell me his location." Felix demanded, pointing his blaster at Tiebo's head.

Ezra couldn't see more of this, so he began to run towards him. Kanan and Sabine also went after him with R8 trailing behind them.

"Is you pointing your blaster at me insinuate you're going to shoot me?" Tiebo said. "I don't believe I'm too valuable for you."

"And besides…" Tiebo continued. "I don't think that's your style."

Felix winced under his helmet, but he put his blaster away.

"You're right." He agreed. "It's not."

He then picked up Tiebo by his collar and lifted him up to his eye view.

"This is." He smiled.

Felix then activated his jetpack. The wings flipped out and the thrusters powered up. Felix then darted upward rapidly with Tiebo hanging on only by his hand. Ezra and company covered their eyes as dust blew into their eyes.

"What's he doing?" Kanan asked.

Felix darted into the sky with Tiebo screaming. Soon, he was above the clouds. Tiebo looked down and began to flail his limbs around, and tried to break free of Felix's grip.

"Let me go!" He shouted. "Please! Let me go!"

"Then let's try this again." Felix said calmly. "What's that logo?"

"This is the symbol of our industry: Null Sector!" Tiebo replied with his voice shaking. "Our head is Locus Hammer! He's from Mandalore! Please! Don't hurt me!"

"Where's his location?" Felix asked one more time.

"His main foundry is housed in Umbara!" Tiebo replied quickly. "There! That's what you want, right?!"

Felix smiled. He then slowly descended down the sky and back into the clouds.

Ezra and company waited for Felix to come down. But they had bigger concerns as Agent Kallus and a garrison of Stormtroopers entered the scene. They quickly took cover as they began to fire. But luckily, Felix came back into view.

"Oh, look." He smiled again. "Your friends are here."

He then twirled around and threw Tiebo into Agent Kallus and his garrison, knocking them all down.

"Bee, Hera." He said through his comm. "We need a pickup. Mark my location, that'll be the LZ."

"Copy that." Bee replied.

A bit later, the _Iced Shell_ landed on the most open area possible, within range of the Ghost crew. And as the hatch opened, the crew slowly began to walk towards it. But then, they were stopped by the sounds of some mechanical steps. They looked behind them and saw several AT-DPs were coming into view and firing upon them.

"Get inside!" Felix shouted. "We're getting out of here!"

That got everyone to run towards the hatch, getting on board quickly.

"Floor it!" Felix shouted.

Bee flipped some switches and grabbed a lever.

"Hold on tight." He said.

"Why?" Hera asked.

That question was answered quick when as soon as the ship was turned around, it just blasted forward, sending a little force backwards.

Kallus recovered, and just threw Tiebo off of him, who was currently unconscientious. He just saw the _Iced Shell_ dart away into the sky. He quickly pulled out his commlink.

"Deploy fighters!" He ordered. "I want that rebel ship back on the surface!"

The Iced Shell entered the planet's atmosphere, and soon exited the planet's atmosphere. It flew for a good bit before they were intercepted by some TIEs.

"We got fighters!" Hera called from the bridge.

Felix quickly ran up. But before he did, he told the Ghost crew to get on the guns, which they did.

Felix sat down next to Hera. He quickly grabbed the controls and engaged the incoming TIEs.

"This is where the fun begins…" He whispered, looking over to R8.

R8 beeped and plugged into the ship. After some twirling, she turned on something resembling to… music?

 _Ooga-chaka Ooga-Ooga  
Ooga-chaka Ooga-Ooga  
Ooga-chaka Ooga-Ooga  
Ooga-chaka Ooga-Ooga_

Hera at first was baffled by this.

"Wait." She said. "Is this… music?"

"Yep!" Felix answered.

R8 beeped happily as she continued to twist as she continued her job.

"Grab onto something!" Felix said.

Hera did so, grabbing onto her chair.

 _I can't stop this feeling  
Deep inside of me  
Girl, you just don't realize  
What you do to me_

The ship began to slow down. TIEs began approaching rapidly.

"Don't fire until Felix gives the word!" Bee shouted over the intercoms.

Kanan and Ezra tightened the controls of the guns, raring to get going.

"Now?" Ezra asked.

"No." Bee responded.

 _When you hold me  
In your arms so tight  
You let me know  
Everything's all right_

The TIEs were now in firing range. The pilots took time to take aim at the Iced Shell. Zeb and Sabine looked around, hearing the TIE fighters getting closer.

"Felix…!" Sabine began. "You might want to do something…!"

When the music entered the chorus, Felix smiled. That was the moment. He flipped two switches and then slammed the accelerator.

 _I'm hooked on a feeling  
I'm high on believing  
That you're in love with me_

The ship darted past the TIEs. The TIE had to circle around just face it. They went back to chasing.

"You can shoot them now!" Felix shouted.

Kanan and Ezra obliged. They began shooting at the TIEs, which wasn't really that hard, since TIEs have the constant habit of missing everything. One by one, the TIEs exploded.

"You're making this too easy for us!" Kanan called.

 _Lips are sweet as candy  
It's taste stays on my mind  
Girl, you got me thirsty  
For another cup of wine_

"Hera?" He asked.

"Yeah?" Hera responded.

"Can you check if the torpedoes are loaded?" Felix asked. "We're diving straight for that Light Cruiser!"

Sabine and Zeb just made it to the bridge. They just heard what Felix said.

"'Dive'?" Zeb asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Felix grinned.

 _Got a bug from you, girl  
But I don't need no cure  
I just stay affecting  
If I can for sure_

The first wave TIEs were shot down as the last one still flying was got by Ezra.

"Got 'em!" He shouted.

"That was only the first wave." Bee said. "They'll be sending the next wave shortly."

 _All the good love when we're all alone  
Keep it up girl  
Yeah, you turn me on_

Bee was right. The Light Cruiser deployed several Interceptors at them. They flew ferociously at the Iced Shell.

Kanan and Ezra began to shoot, but as they are much more agile, it took a bit longer.

"If you have a plan, wanna fill us in?" Ezra asked.

"No question, kid!" Felix told him. "Just shoot!"

The Interceptors are now behind them. They kept on shooting, damaging the shields of the Iced Shell.

"Shields are taking quite a beating!" Sabine reminded.

"I know!" Felix responded.

 _I'm hooked on a feeling  
I'm high on believing  
That you're in love with me_

Felix flipped a couple more switches.

"Sorry everyone!" He said. "I'll be diverting power to the engines!"

Ezra and Kanan kept on shooting until the guns just suddenly halted.

"I hope you know what you're doing!" Kanan said.

"I hope so too!" Felix said.

That answer gave the Ghost crew some uncertainty.

 _All the good love  
When we're all alone  
Keep it up girl  
Yeah, you turn me on_

The Iced Shell continued its course straight for the Light Cruiser.

On the Light Cruiser, they saw the Iced Shell diving straight for them.

"Sir!" an officer shouted. "That rebel vessel diving straight for us!"

"Shoot it down! Hurry!" The commander ordered.

 _I'm hooked on a feeling  
I'm high on believing  
That you're in love with me_

Felix gripped the controls tightly.

"Felix…!" Sabine spoke up, bracing herself.

Just a few feet from the bridge of the Light Cruiser, Felix pressed a button and swerved. The Iced Shell did a 180 and darted. It tore past the Interceptors.

One shot had a pilot look back, but he looked back in front of him just in time to see the bridge of the Light Cruiser. All of the Interceptors slammed into the bridge, causing the Light Cruiser to fall.

There was a cargo transport, who had deployed the first wave of TIEs. It was pulling away, but Felix had no intentions of having it leave.

"Hera? How are those torpedoes coming?" Felix asked.

"R8 just armed them!" Hera answered.

Felix knew what to do. He pressed a button, and two torpedoes shot out right under the hull. Both landed on the transport in a large explosion that followed suit.

"We're out of here!" Felix shouted, flipping more switches. "Bee! Punch it!"

"Copy that." Bee replied.

He reached for a lever above, and the Iced Shell zoomed into hyperspace.

 _I'm hooked on a feeling  
And I'm high on believin'  
That you're in love with me_

 _I said I'm hooked on a feeling  
And I'm high on believin'  
That you're in love with me_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Iced Shell is now back with the main Phoenix Fleet. Docked with the command ship, Felix is now with Commander Sato and the Ghost crew at the bridge, with R8 plugged into the table that displayed the Bastion unit blueprints and in action.

"How remarkable…" Sato said. "If the Empire produces this type of droid in numbers, it will be a quite omen for us."

"Felix has gotten a location of its main factory." Bee said.

"And where would that be?" Sato asked.

"Umbara." Felix replied.

Everybody froze at the statement. Even the Ghost crew looked on with shocked expressions.

"What?" Felix asked.

"Umbara is known as the planet of darkness." Hera explained. "That planet is completely black. No one ever came back from there."

"Not only that, Umbara has the most advanced technology than any of the rest of the galaxy." Sabine added. "Who knows what kind of other weapons are being built there?"

Felix just ignored the comments. He just walked up to them.

"Look, all that matters is that those monsters are being built there." Felix stated. "Are we going or not?"

Sato thought about the decision. As much as he would like to send a team to destroy the factory building war machines, it is further unlikely that they will return alive, and moreover, Umbara was deep in Imperial territory.

"I'm sorry." He replied. "As much as I am partial to seeing this factory in ruin, the mission's nature and task would be too dangerous."

Felix was surprised by this answer, but then he began to chuckle.

"Wow." He laughed. "And I thought you rebels were all about danger and thrills…"

Sato grimaced. He didn't want this insubordination.

"My word is final!" Sato declared. "The mission to Umbara will not be permitted!"

Felix then stepped back. He held his head in disbelief. He then slapped his thighs, and sighed.

"Alright then." He admitted. "Then I guess I'll have to go alone. Bee! R8!"

Both droids perked up and then followed Felix out of the bridge. Sato crossed his arms.

"We can't take such a risk." Sato said. "I'm sorry."

Then, he walked over to one of his men. The Ghost crew turned to speak with themselves.

"He seemed pretty ticked." Hera remarked.

Sabine looked as Felix walked away. She was worried for her friend. She knew him long enough for him to know Felix. She knew that Felix never got this mad about anything unless it involves his family.

"I'll be right back." She said.

Sabine then quickly left. When she was out of sight, everyone also went after her. But Kanan and Hera stayed.

"Why do I have a feeling this is going to end in a fist fight?" Kanan asked himself.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Hera replied.

On the hallway to the Iced Shell, sounds of objects tumbling and clanging could be heard. When making the way into the Iced Shell itself, there were several crates being flown into the air, as well as some parts being scattered all over the place. Felix was angrily throwing crates he has stolen from the Empire.

"If throwing inanimate objects relives you of your anger." Bee called. "I'm sure they have some to lend."

"Do you want to get dismantled?!" Felix shouted.

Bee silently returned to whatever he was doing. Felix scoffed and went back to his rage quitting of throwing random objects he could get a hold of. When he heard steps, he immediately dropped the object and pointed his pistols at the direction of the steps. It revealed Sabine, cowering behind her hands. Felix scoffed in a shocking voice, and withdrew his blasters.

"Wow." Sabine commented. "You are surely prepared for anyone who sneaks up on you."

"What do you want?" Felix sighed, sitting on a crate.

Sabine sat down next to him, and put her hand on his shoulder.

"You." She started.

Felix looked at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"You're never this angry unless it involved your family." Sabine said. "That droid… your family built it, didn't they?"

Felix looked away. He sighed.

"It's not a story I'd like to remember." He replied.

"Hey, I know a thing or two about family betraying you." Sabine said. "What happened?"

Felix sighed again. He then breathed in.

"Alright." He finally said.

 _It was the day we broke out of the academy._

 _You and Ketsu went on your own way, and I began to find my way back to my clan. It wasn't an easy trip of course, I had to sneak onboard a cargo shuttle just to get off Mandalore._

 _The shuttle made several stops across the galaxy. I don't know how many days or nights went by as I tried to stay hidden. But I did make it back home to Carlac. It was the most satisfying moment I haven't felt in a long time. I reached the clan's grounds, and was reunited with my family. There, I told my family about the truth about the Empire. They quickly made plans to retaliate. I should've arrived a bit sooner._

 _The Empire sure has a good method of just souring your mood pretty quickly, because we were attacked almost immediately after we began to retaliate._

 _Laser strikes from above. Rocket blasts from the air. It was definitely a Mandalorian surprise attack. But I had to wonder, which of the clans had the power to do this much destruction?_

 _He tore all of us apart. No one survived. My parents and I were forced to flee from our camp. But we were cut off by Gar Saxon. The coward is actually proud that he was doing this. He wasn't the only one. Locus Hammer, as well as a couple of our own… They sold us out to the Empire. Their murder intent was pretty strong._

 _He could've killed me first, but, my mother was resourceful. She temporarily blinded them, and had my father take me to safe location. Once he has done that, he went back to mother. All I heard were blaster fire, and then silence. I came out of hiding, and quickly ran back to my parents, but I was too late. My father had already died, but my mother was still breathing. I still remember her words…_

" _Felix…" She said. "My son…"_

 _She held my hand tightly. Then, she gave something to me. It was a code cylinder. But once she has done that, her life faded away. I've never felt so sad in my whole life. Once I have buried both of my parents, I looked out to what was left. We had spare fighters housed underground, but it looks like the traitors have spilled everything to Saxon and the Imperial crownies. Luckily, one was still operational. I grabbed that with some of my gear, and left Carlac._

 _The fighter had enough juice for one hyperspace jump. I had to think of a good place to find a ship, so I had to go to Nal Hutta. Once arrived, I disassembled the fighter and bought some other ships with brute force and deception. I did get the attention of the Hutts, but I was able to avoid detection._

 _The Iced Shell is a compilation of the ships I brought and that fighter. Later, I found Bee's husk gathering dust in an abandoned Imperial outpost. I nabbed him and fixed him up. Later, R8 also joined our duo after abandoning her abusive master._

 _Now, as of yesterday, as well as keeping in touch with you, I've been taking back alley fights, assassinations, and random attacks, trying to get information about Hammer and those defectors._

Once Felix had finished, he had several teardrops on the floor. He sniffed, and wiped his eyes.

"Heh." He sighed. "Guess I got a bit too emotional…"

He was about to say something else, but his train was cut off by something unexpected.

Sabine had slowly wrapped her arms around Felix. One around his back, the other around his neck. She also buried her face into his shoulder, breathing in sadly.

"I thought I was supposed to be the sad one here…" Felix replied jokingly.

"Just shut up…" Sabine whispered.

Felix raised his arms to hug her back, but he stopped. He just put them back down. They just stayed like this for a few more minutes before letting go. But Sabine still had one hand on his shoulder.

"What are you going to do now?" Sabine asked.

Felix stood up and then grabbed his head.

"I'm going to Umbara." He answered. "I don't care what Sato says, I'm going."

Felix then walked out of the cargo bay and entered the bridge. Bee was silently doing some calculations when Felix sat down at the pilot's seat.

"You seem better." He commented.

"Just got some help." Felix replied, flipping switches.

Sabine came in.

"You're not going alone." She replied.

Felix turned around and faced her.

"You know I can't guarantee a safe passage back, right?" Felix asked.

"Why else would I go?" Sabine remarked with a smile.

"You're not the only one!" called a voice.

Both Mandalorians turned around and saw Zeb and Ezra. But the voice didn't belong to either of them. They turned around and saw Rex. He walked towards them.

"And you are…?" Felix asked.

"The name's Rex." Rex replied. "And I been on Umbara. I can help you get through."

Felix looked puzzled, but then it suddenly hit him.

"You're a clone, aren't you?" He asked.

"And if I am?" Rex replied.

"Then welcome aboard." Felix smiled.

He then went back to flight preparations. Rex shook his head, and then motioned the others.

"Get your gear!" He ordered. "We leave at 1500!"

Ezra, Zeb, and Rex then ran out of the Iced Shell to grab their stuff. Sabine stayed a bit longer to just have one more brief exchange with Felix before leaving to get her gear as well.

"Y'know." Felix mentioned. "I'm not used to people always having my back."

Sabine smiled and punched his shoulder playfully.

"You're welcome." She remarked with a smile.

A few minutes later, Ezra, Zeb, Rex, and Sabine were back on the Iced Shell. They all situated themselves on the bridge as Felix, Bee, and R8 prepared for their jump.

"Let's go to work." Felix stated.

Then, the Iced Shell detached from the command ship and flew off into open space.

"Calculation complete." Bee said. "Ready for jump."

Felix flipped more switches and pushed the lever. And, building up speed, the Iced Shell jumped into hyperspace.

From the said command ship, Hera and Kanan saw the Iced Shell jump.

"They left, didn't they?" Hera asked.

"Yep." Kanan replied.

"Should we tell Commander Sato?" Hera asked again.

"Ah…" Kanan muttered. "Maybe later."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Iced Shell was in hyperspace. The gang had decided to take a breather before going into battle. Everyone had gone to the living room.

"Call me once we're almost there." Felix told Bee.

"Copy that." Bee replied.

When Felix exited, R8 beeped to Bee.

"Don't look at me." He replied. "I'm only doing a job as a pilot."

R8 beeped some more.

"Well, my protocols do exceed the basics of pilots." Bee admitted. "But I am very good at it, mind you."

R8 beeped some more and when back to helping Bee piloting. But before doing so, she had decided to turn on a little tune.

 _(Cue the Pina Colada Song in the background)_

Zeb and Rex sat down on some chairs and then began trading stories. Sabine felt a bit sleepy, so Felix let her sleep in his room. She was now fast asleep, cooing like a little girl.

Felix quickly went over to his cargo bay and opened the crate that contained the palladium. He grabbed another chunk of it, and began to walk away. He walked past Ezra, who saw him holding a chunk of that palladium stuff. Ezra turned around to ask, Felix collapsed onto the floor. Ezra quickly helped by lifting him up.

"Easy there…" He said quietly.

He helped Felix to one of his empty rooms. It was a room with a desk. There were some tools on it. Ezra quickly helped Felix onto the chair in front of him.

"Thanks…" Felix said, breathing heavily.

He placed the chunk of palladium onto the desk. And he grabbed some tools and began to chip away and shape the palladium. It was now a cube.

"Hey, Ezra." He said.

"Yeah?" Ezra asked.

"You see that machine on my left?" Felix asked.

Ezra looked over and saw some kind of machine with some kind of platform on either end.

"Yeah, why?" Ezra asked.

Felix gave Ezra the palladium.

"Put that on the entry platform." Felix said. "It'll handle the rest."

Ezra walked over to the machine and placed the palladium cube onto the machine. Felix, meanwhile, used on the more sharper tools to get a drop of blood from his thumb. He then grabbed a device from the other side of the desk. He placed thumb on the button of the device. The device then displayed something.

 **Blood Toxicity: 57%**

Felix sighed, and just put the device away. He then took off his breast plate to reveal a blue glow from his chest. He released it and soon, in his hand, was a reactor of some kind. The reactor opened his back port to reveal a smoking chip.

"Is that supposed to be smoking?" Ezra asked.

Felix looked behind him and saw Ezra, who was still standing by the machine.

"Oh." He said. "I forgot that you were still there."

Then, the machine beeped, and it spew out several palladium chips on the other platform.

"Hey." Felix spoke again. "Can you give me one of those?"

Ezra grabbed a palladium chip, and handed it to Felix. Felix took out the chip from the reactor, which basically became a cookie, and inserted the new chip into the reactor, and he stuck it back into his chest.

"What's going on?" Ezra asked.

Felix sighed. He knew he couldn't hide this from him.

"Well, you see…" He began. "I'm not… normal. This thing inside me is an Arc Reactor. It what keeps me alive."

"The downside is that it is also slowly killing me." Felix went on. "The palladium is trying to eat me from the inside."

He grabbed a canteen, and drank a huge gulp from it.

"I've only been able to suppress it." Felix finished. "It's only a matter of time before it finally kills me."

"And you're just going to let it do that?" Ezra asked.

"You think I didn't try to find a different power source?" Felix replied. "I tried every combination of every known element!"

Felix then stood up, and began to walk out.

"And, I might as well spend the last moments killing the guy who took everything from me." He said.

He then grabbed onto the door.

"Oh, and Ezra." He added. "Don't mention this to Sabine. She doesn't need this on her conscience."

Ezra nodded, and Felix began to walk out.

"Then let me ask you this." Ezra called. "How is murdering the person make you feel better?"

Felix stopped. He turned around to face Ezra.

"Trust me, kid." He said with seriousness in his voice. "I know what I'm doing. I don't need a kid telling me what to do."

Ezra tried to respond, but Bee and R8 spoke through the ship's comms.

"Felix!" Bee called. "We're here!

Felix then disappeared to the upper level of his ship. Ezra pouted and went to wake up Sabine.

By the time Felix had made it to the bridge, the Iced Shell just came out of hyperspace. Shortly after, everyone else followed in too. Felix looked out.

"Well… no wonder nobody ever comes back from here." Zeb commented.

What was before the Iced Shell, was the planet Umbara. It was blood red, and black storm clouds were circulating in the planet's atmosphere. But that wasn't what they were paying attention to.

The Imperial blockade loomed through their line of vision. The blockade is currently consisted of five Star Destroyers, eight Light Cruisers, and a multitude of fighter squadrons patrolling the area.

"How are you going to waltz through there?" Zeb asked. "Without blowing us up?"

"Don't worry." Felix assured, pointing at something. "You see that?"

Everyone looked at that something. It was another cargo vessel, but not of Imperial origin.

"We can get in there without suspicion. We'll just say we're another cargo transport." Felix explained. "And I have the perfect alibi to get us through."

"What's the alibi?" Ezra asked.

"Wait and see." Felix replied.

The Iced Shell began to creep closer towards the blockade. Soon, they were in scanning range of the Star Destroyers. TIEs then began to fly beside the ship. That was the signal.

"Alright, here we go." Felix began.

He then flipped switches and opened up comm lines.

"Cargo transport EZ-7099, requesting a landing bay." Felix said.

There was a small silence, before one of the deck officers responded.

"Cargo transport EZ-7099, you're not listed on the arrival schedule, please verify." He called.

"Acknowledged, control." Felix replied. "We were rerouted from… Scarif Security Complex. Transmitting clearance code now."

R8 beeped and then began twisting the panel. She was sending the codes. Once she was done, silence ensued. No one, not even Ezra, moved a single muscle. The silence went on for a good few seconds.

"Cargo transport EZ-7099…" the control deck officer replied.

Everyone tensed up.

"You are cleared for entry." The officer quickly added.

Felix sighed an exasperation of relief. Rex chuckled and patted Felix's shoulder.

"Alright, Bee." Felix said. "Bring us in slowly…"

"Copy that." Bee answered.

The Iced Shell then slowly descended down towards Umbara. As they went down, Sabine had a question.

"You've been to Scarif?" She asked.

"On… Academy days." Felix replied, shrugging.

Sabine wanted to ask more questions, but Rex told her to get ready. She went to get her stuff as Felix's crew brought the ship in.

"Alright, Hammer…" Felix growled. "Now which hole are you crept up in here?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Umbara was very dark. The only sources of light were the plants that would glow at a moderate rate, and the occasional building every mile or so.

One area of massive lighting was the Imperial factory. And if one was to take a look, the factory didn't look like a factory, it looked more like a citadel military construct. There were several massive open spaces to hold cargo as well as to land ships, several platoons are patrolling the area, cargo vessels landing and departing, and of course, the main factory building itself.

It was some factory. There was a massive spire that had a giant radar dish at the top, and the main command center oversaw the whole thing.

Speaking of that command center, Imperial officers were walking this way and that, pressing buttons and working on panels.

The main doors opened, and the officers turned their attention in the direction. Two shadow Imperial Super Commandos entered. The armor was black and the helmet visors were glowing blue. Clearly, they have received Umbaran level modifications to their armor.

Then, the man in charge of the factory came in. Chief Locus Hammer. He was in the same armor his guards were wearing, but instead of the armor being completely black, there were hints of green. The visor was also green in color.

"Chief, sir." Reported an officer. "The factory is now operating at maximum efficiency!"

Locus didn't reply. He simply went up to the commander's desk and sat down.

"What about the production?" He asked in monotone voice.

The officer checked his datapad.

"We currently have nearly a thousand units on standby." He said. "Many more on the way, as we speak!"

Locus looked at the officer.

"You seem awfully cheerful." He said. "Is there a reason?"

"Well…" The officer replied. "This is just so exciting; to be involved in something like this!"

Locus placed a hand on the officer's shoulder as a sign of camaraderie, while in his mind he was sick of this kind of cheerfulness. This officer was fresh and just recently assigned here; he had never shut his trap once.

"Well then." Locus replied. "Would you like to express your feelings to the rest of the staff?"

The officer was a bit fazed by the sudden question, but agreed to do it. Locus stood up and grabbed the attention of everyone that was in the command center.

"Gentleman!" He called. "This aspiring young man would like to say a few words!"

He then let the young officer have the deck as everyone looked at the latter.

"Well." The officer began. "I was just recently assigned here… and it has been such a wonderful experience! I wish to be the best man the Empire could've ever hoped for! Don't you worry, Chief. I swear that this factory will be-"

He was interrupted by a blaster shot. Then, the officer fell over on his face, revealing Locus with his blaster out. Locus withdrew that said blaster, and then spoke.

"Anyone else?" He chuckled.

The staff, quietly, but more fearfully, than all went back to their work, no words muttering. Locus then sat back down at his desk. He had a lot on his mind.

There were many reasons why he killed that officer. One, he reminded a lot of himself. Back when he was with Clan Arc, he was just as eager. He didn't want that part of his life to manifest itself. Second, he just found him annoying. Ever since he was put in charge of this factory, he needed to rule this place with an iron fist to put the staff in their places. He had more thoughts, but he was interrupted.

"Sir." An officer called. "Incoming transmission."

"Origin?" Locus asked.

The officer checked the transmission.

"From… Sundari, sir." The officer answered.

Locus then stood up and began to exit the command room.

"Put whoever's on the line on hold." Locus ordered. "I'll take it in my quarters."

With that said, with his guards up front, he exited the command center.

Meanwhile, the Iced Shell continued is descent down towards their designated landing bay.

"Transport EZ-7099, cleared for Landing Bay 12. Acknowledge please." The deck officer contacted.

"EZ-7099, proceeding to Landing Bay 12 as instructed." Bee replied.

As the ship continued to go down, the others began observing Umbara. Well, to the best of their abilities. As mentioned before, Umbara was a dark and desolate world when it came to natural lighting.

As they looked on, Ezra noticed that Rex looked rather solemn.

"Hey, Rex?" He asked. "You okay?"

"Huh?" Rex muttered. "Oh… it's just… I lost a lot of good men here."

Ezra was confused by that statement.

"What do you mean?" Ezra asked.

"I… don't wanna talk about it." Rex replied.

Ezra looked worried for Rex, but he realized Rex didn't want to get personal on a mission.

"Look alive, Ezra." Zeb called. "We're landing."

The Iced Shell was now in view of the Landing Bay. Once they were over it, they slowly went down.

"What's the plan?" Sabine asked.

Felix turned and began to explain.

"Alright." Felix explained. "Zeb, you and Rex will draw out the security, and essentially act as bait. That way, Ezra, Sabine and I will be able to get into the factory undetected."

While there was some controversy about this plan, they agreed to do it. The Iced Shell touched down.

"Cargo Transport EZ-7099, prepare to meet the inspection team." The deck officer replied.

Just then, an officer and two Stormtroopers walked towards the ship. The doors opened, and the inspection team entered. There were some audible punching and groaning, but miraculously, no one heard a thing. There was one officer at the control deck, and Felix took him out with a silencer.

With no one, around, the crew made their way to the controls. R8 plugged in and then showed an image of the entire factory's layout. From the landing bay they were on, to the main building itself.

"Well…" Sabine commented. "This is going to be quite a trip."

"Looks like the only way to the factory itself is through the monorail." Rex mentioned. "How are Zeb and I going to cause a distraction?"

"You'll be setting up at the next bay over." Felix replied. "The droids need to keep the ship warm. It may be our only ticket out of here."

"Any questions?" Felix asked.

There was some murmuring, but they were unanimous.

"Break!" Felix called.

He, Ezra, and Sabine then went off to the monorail, while Rex and Zeb made their way through the forests to the next landing bay over.

Back on the Iced Shell, Bee was still sitting at the controls, prepping things just in case. R8 rolled in and told him about Felix's plan.

"Is that so?" Bee replied.

R8 beeped and booped. She then plugged in to assist him.

"But, I'll say this." Bee replied. "If Felix is the first one back, we're leaving without them."

Zeb and Rex traversed their way through the forest. While they were open spaces for them to go through easily, it still took some time as Stormtroopers, in squads, and flashlights, were on patrol.

"Looks like Empire made themselves quite a home." Rex remarked.

They had to duck and weave anytime they were within range of a patrol squad.

"Can't we just blow them up now?" Zeb asked.

"No." Rex replied. "It will draw too much attention."

"Besides." He added.

Zeb followed Rex's eyes, and saw a fighter depot. There were pilots exiting the depot. Zeb chuckled at the thought of blowing the fighters.

Meanwhile, Ezra, Felix, and Sabine just made it to the doors of the main factory building.

"Wow." Ezra commented. "It's a lot bigger up close."

"Quiet." Sabine quickly said.

They went on and found themselves opposing two guards, so they quickly hid.

"How do we get past them?" Ezra asked. "Felix?"

No answer came. Felix was nowhere.

"What the-?" Sabine muttered. "He was right next to me!"

But as they talked, they heard the two Stormtroopers scream as they were taken into the sky. Then, Felix came in from the sky. His wings folded back into his jetpack.

"You're welcome." Felix smirked.

Sabine and Ezra walked out of their hiding spot and walked up to him.

"How'd you do that?" Ezra asked.

Felix opened the door, and once through, they began to run towards their destination.

"You're making me another one of those once we're back." Sabine teased.

"I make no promises." Felix replied.

They kept on running and soon found themselves at the entrance to the reactor. They quickly took cover, and carefully observed the area.

"Well, doesn't look like we can just walk in there." Ezra joked.

Sabine took a quick look at the entrance.

"Blaster-proof doors…" She observed. "Heavy-duty. I think they can only be opened through controls."

Felix then turned on his commlink. He contacted Rex.

"How are you guys over there?" He called.

"Ah, we're doing great!" Rex smiled.

Outside, Rex and Zeb had just finished setting up charges and detonators all over various areas of the factory. As of now, they are now taking cover behind several cargo crates.

"All charges are set." Zeb stated. "We're just waiting for the call."

Felix looked over to Sabine and Ezra. They silently nodded. Felix then spoke back to Rex.

"Start the show." Felix grinned.

Rex smiled and motioned Zeb. He pulled out a switch, and after a brief moment, Zeb pressed the button.

All over the factory, there were suddenly quiet, but audible beeping noises. Stormtroopers came up to check it out, but then were met with a big explosion to the face. This occurred all over the factory, with several explosions going up as high up to the trees. From the command deck, Locus, who just got back from his chat with his caller, saw the explosions. The officers all stopped to look at the explosions too. When the explosion noises finally subsided, Locus quickly turned to his officers, who just looked at him with both shocked and questioned looks.

"What are you looking at me for?!" Locus yelled. "Deploy the garrison!"

The officers didn't know how to react. They just looked at each other, and then back to Locus.

"MOVE!" He screamed with a blaster shot to the ceiling.

That prompted the alarms to go off, and all of the officers scrambled this way and that, deploying troops.

Stormtroopers began running down hallways to handle the situation. With them were several already-completed Bastion units. They thundered down the hallways towards their call. One squad made it outside, and looked around. Coincidentally, they were on the landing bay where Rex and Zeb were hiding.

"Spread out!" The squad leader commanded.

Rex and Zeb then came out of their hiding places and began shooting. Many Stormtroopers already went down, but the others that managed to stay alive shot back, only to then go down like flies.

Many squads where dispatched to other landing bays as well, but they had no interaction with anything. That's when they heard from the command center that the insurgents are at Landing Bay 3, and they all had to get over there immediately.

Soon, Rex and Zeb were met by additional Imperial forces coming like a tsunami. And while they were doing a good job at holding them off, there was only so much they could shoot at. Zeb kept on shooting, and Rex took cover. But when he did so, he heard loud thuds. Thuds of metal. He looked to his side, and knew the sound all too well.

"Zeb!" He called.

"What is it, Rex?" Zeb shouted.

"Run!" Rex ordered.

Zeb looked confused but then he heard the loud thuds too. He saw what was making the sound, and then gasped.

"We better run!" Zeb shouted.

That's when a colossal Umbaran MHC tank stepped into view, shooting its many laser cannons. It didn't use its sonic torpedoes yet. It was just shooting. Rex and Zeb made it towards the forests, and Stormtroopers, Bastions and several other Umbaran MHCs pursued them.

Back inside the factory, Felix, Sabine, and Ezra were still hiding from the ruckus Rex and Zeb had caused. Then, they slowly approached the main reactor room. Felix got to the door controls and got it open.

"We're in." He called.

Sabine put her pistols away, and grabbed some explosives. Handing some to Ezra, she walked inside with him. Felix also followed in, but he was relatively close to the door.

"Alright, setting the charges now." Sabine stated. "Once this is done, we'll be out."

Felix had other ideas though. He silently walked back, and pressed a button. That caused the reactor room's alarms to go off, also initiating a lockdown. Ezra turned and saw Felix.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm sorry." Felix replied. "But I'm hunting down Hammer. You'll all be safer in here."

Sabine turned around and ran to the door.

"Felix! Wait!" She shouted before the door slammed on her face.

When the door shut, the emergency locks activated, sealing the door. Felix quickly took the time to weld the door together, and as soon as he was done, a ray-shield activated. Felix also destroyed the outside controls. And with one deep breath in, Felix then walked away from the reactor room, for his hunt of Hammer, as well as leaving Ezra and Sabine behind.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Rex and Zeb were still running from the lot of death that were chasing them. The Stormtroopers, and the Umbaran MHCs, and even Bastions. They flipped flopped from shooting to running several times, until they found some cover. There, they managed to plant themselves to the oncoming amount of enemies coming towards them.

"There's too many!" Zeb shouted.

"Hold the line, Zeb!" Rex called.

Rex then shot down a Bastion. That prompted some Bastions to go into their turret forms to rain down fire. Zeb took cover as the trees behind them began to whittle down into twigs and fall over. As the scourge continued, one of their commlinks went off.

"Sounds like fun!" came Kanan's voice. "Mind if we join in?"

"Kanan?" Zeb asked.

Up in space, the Ghost, several A-Wings, and a couple cruisers came out of hyperspace. They were flying right above Umbara, right in front of several Star Destroyers. Behind them, four unidentified ships appeared behind them. To the audience, they are the U-Wings.

"We've got you marked, boys." Hera also called. "We'll come to you. Just hold out a bit longer!"

With that said, the Ghost and its company accelerated down towards Umbara. And while the fighters, and the Ghost itself went down, the cruisers turned around and went back into hyperspace. The Ghost and the other fighters continued on.

"We're through!" Kanan cheered.

The Ghost and its squadron descended down further, and soon, they saw the whole battle that Rex and Zeb had got themselves in.

"Phoenix 7, 4, 3, and 8!" Hera ordered. "Stay with the U-Wings! Everyone else, with me!"

The Ghost and the fighters began providing air support. Rex threw up a thumbs-up, and went back to the fighting. The U-Wings slowly came down, and disembarked troopers on the ground to reinforce the two.

"Sir!" shouted a soldier. "Captain Syndulla sent us."

Zeb and Rex both laughed, and led their newly met allies into battle.

Imperials have responded appropriately, now dispatching fighters, such as regular TIEs and TIE Strikers, along with several Umbaran Starfighters.

Meanwhile, back in the factory, inside the reactor room, Sabine and Ezra were still trying to figure out a way to get out. Ezra tried to use his lightsaber, but the ray-shield stopped that idea.

"Well, that didn't work." Ezra commented, withdrawing his lightsaber.

Sabine looked around. She knew that ray-shields will fry anything it touches.

"How are we getting out of here now?" She asked.

Ezra then noticed something. There was an air-duct. He got up to it. Removing the frame, he looked inside. It looked just big enough for the both of them to fit through.

"We'll get out through here." He suggested.

Sabine walked to Ezra and looked at the air vents.

"Well, I guess it's our only way out." She admitted.

She crawled through, followed by Ezra. They wiggled their way through, but there was no exit to be seen for miles.

"Well, this place doesn't leave any openings." Sabine commented.

"Makes you wonder how they got all of that hot air out." Ezra joked.

That made Sabine chuckled a bit.

"Okay, that was a good one." She admitted.

Ezra smirked. They kept on crawling. After some more crawling, they heard a sound. Sabine stopped, and Ezra accidentally ran into her backside. She quickly kicked Ezra for that.

"Hey!" She shot quietly. "Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry!" Ezra replied.

Then, Ezra got quiet. Sabine too. They heard steps.

"Looks like a hallway down there." Sabine commented.

"Maybe we can get out there?" Ezra asked.

But before they could move, they heard a loud rumbling sounds. A ton of blaster shots, walls cracking, even some pipes fizzing. There were even screams of helps and desperation.

"That doesn't sound good." Ezra remarked.

"Hurry!" Sabine said quickly.

They both crawled faster towards the direction from where the sounds are coming from. They finally reached the exit. Sabine punched the frame off, and jumped down to the hall. Ezra also came down. Both were horrified at what they saw. Sabine even took off her helmet and covered her mouth in shock.

The hallway was a complete wreck. Dead Stormtroopers were scattered all over the floor, some even have their heads in the wall, one officer was hanged by a thin thread grappling hook.

Sabine and Ezra slowly walked through the carnage of Imperials. Ezra gasped when he turned the corner.

"What is it?" Sabine asked.

Ezra pointed in front of him, and Sabine gasped. A Stormtrooper was impaled to the wall, through his stomach, with a metal pole. This was followed by more dead Stormtroopers and Imperial officers. There were cracked badges and broken helmets.

"This was Felix." Ezra deduced.

"How could you tell?" Sabine asked.

"Just intuition." Ezra replied.

Just then, they heard a commlink beep from a dead Stormtrooper.

"Come in!" came a voice. "ST-2213, please come in!"

Sabine walked over to the commlink origin, and picked the arm up.

"There's an insurgent coming over to block E3!" called the voice. "Please, send reinforce-"

The voice was cut off, by a sound resembling a yell and a death rattle.

"If anyone's listening to this!" came Felix's voice. "Tell Locus Hammer to meet me at block D4! I'll be waiting there!"

The commlink turned off after that. Sabine dropped it back down.

"Also that." Ezra added.

Sabine put her helmet back on, and then stood up.

"Let's go." She stated. "Block D4."

"What are you going to do?" Ezra asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sabine replied.

She then began to run towards the block D4. Ezra quickly followed.

Locus was watching this whole thing from the command center. He was grimacing at the sight. One of his guards then walked up to him and whispered something to him.

"What?" Locus asked.

The guard nodded. Locus thought about what he was about to do. He was informed about Felix's call. As it was part of his Mandalorian code, he had to respond to it appropriately.

"Gather all of your men." He said to the guard. "We're going."

He then put his helmet on, and began walking out with the guard shortly behind him.

"Sir!" an officer called. "Where are you going?"

"I have a nuisance to be taken care of." Locus replied.

"But… our forces being overwhelmed!" The officer insisted.

Locus sighed. How could Imperials be this short-sighted?

"What about our newest line?" He mentioned.

"The OR units, sir?" The officer replied. "Sir, the only available models we have are the prototypes! And we only have four! We never even tested them out in the field!"

"Well, now's your chance." Locus answered bluntly. "Deploy them."

"Yes sir." The officer replied.

And with that, Locus walked out of the command center, as the officer scrambled over to desk, and authorized the deployment of the prototypes of their newest product, the OR-14s.

Back outside, the fight was still going on strong. The ground forces were exchanging lasers, and fighters up in the air were chasing each other.

"Rex!" Hera called. "I can't find a spot to land!"

Rex looked around. There was no space for any ship to have a solid landing. Then he remembered. Back at the landing bay where the Iced Shell was staying, there was enough space for the Ghost to land.

"Hera!" Rex replied. "Go to Landing Bay 12! We'll mark for you!"

Rex then turned to the rebel soldiers, and motioned everyone to follow him. The soldiers and then fighters than followed Rex towards Landing Bay 12, with the opposition hot behind them.

Felix was now chilling in block D4. He was checking all of his ammo. He was ready to face Locus.

A door opened up, and Felix turned to see who was coming. Sabine and Ezra ran in. Felix sighed deeply.

"Don't scare me like that!" He pouted.

Sabine took off her helmet and placed it on top of one of the crates.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Felix asked, putting his pistols back.

Ezra looked around. Block D4 was pretty spacious. There was a lot of open space. Crates of things were the only thing occupying the space.

"We should leave." Ezra said.

"I'm not going to leave." Felix replied. "I'm this close…"

Sabine looked up to Felix.

"What are you going to do?" She asked. "Kill him? Doing that isn't going to make them feel better!"

But as soon as she said that, the doors suddenly shut. Ray shields blocked them off. Ezra ignited his lightsaber. Sabine and Felix pulled their pistols back out, and slowly got back to back. That's when figures came down from the ceiling and pointed their blasters at them. Eight Shadow Imperial Supercommandos stood on the ground, and the other eight were in the air, surrounding them. Lastly, a green Shadow Imperial Supercommando came down.

"So… the boy lives…" He chuckled.

"Hammer…" Felix scowled.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

They were surrounded. The Shadow Imperial Supercommandos had their blaster aimed viciously at Sabine, Felix, and Ezra. The main one, still in the air, was looking down at them.

"Such a lovely reunion…" Hammer chuckled.

"Hate to ruin it, would ya?" Felix taunted.

Hammer looked over to his men. They looked at him. They were waiting for their orders. Hammer, then, without a sound, grabbed Felix by his neck, and took off up into the air.

"Felix!" Sabine cried.

But she didn't have the time worry, as Ezra quickly grabbed her as the Shadow Imperial Supercommandos began shooting. Ezra and Sabine moved towards the several crates and got to cover.

"We're surrounded!" Ezra yelled.

"Oh really?" Sabine joked. "What was your first clue?"

The Commandos kept on shooting. Ezra and Sabine each took turns taking on one side of the storm and the other.

Meanwhile, back outside, Rex, Zeb and the rebel soldiers now just made to Landing Bay 9, where the Iced Shell was still sitting idly by. From the cockpit, Bee and R8 saw the incoming fire.

"Why in the galaxy's name did they bring the fight here?!" Bee said.

R8 beeped and hollered in shock and fear, but Bee had other ideas. He got up and went to one of the rooms that the Iced Shell had. There, he grabbed a DC-15A rifle.

"I'm going out there." He said confidently. "You better the ship's weapon systems online."

R8 booped, and Bee went down to help.

Rex, Zeb and the soldiers soon found cover with some cargo crates on the platform. Rex told the two soldiers to signal the Ghost once they have arrived. They did so, and the Ghost landed on the ground quickly. Kanan and Hera both got off to assist with the fighting, and Chopper took over the Ghost's guns.

"Well, I see you've met the locals!" Kanan joked.

"Yeah!" Zeb replied.

The shooting continued. There were now two separate battles going on now. One in the air, where fighters were zipping this way and that to provide cover for the ground troops and occupying aerial forces, and one on the ground, where the Rebels are clearly outnumbered.

The shooting went on for seemingly hours. Rebels fall, Stormtroopers would fall, but the Imperial tanks seemed to go down like dominoes.

"We could sure use Sabine right about now!" Zeb cried.

Kanan looked to the factory's citadel tower. Searchlights were swinging this way and that.

"I think she has her own problems to deal with!" He called.

Kanan was right. Sabine did have her own problems. And those problems were the Shadow Imperial Commandos. They had blocked off both her and Ezra from the any of the exits.

"We're cut off!" Ezra shouted.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Sabine shouted back.

The Shadow Imperial Commandos kept on shooting. Sparks on the crates blasted off and scorched the said crates. The leader motioned two troops. Those two troops took to the air and fired two rockets.

"Incoming!" Sabine shouted.

Ezra looked up to see the rockets darting down them. He stretched out his hand and closed his eyes. The rockets wiggled and then turned around. Opening his eyes, he put his hand forward, which sent the rocket into the torsos of the two airborne Shadow Imperial Commandos.

The leader saw this, and then ordered a cease-fire. He walked over to Ezra, who also stood up and ignited his lightsaber. He raised his arm, and then shot something. Ezra couldn't react in time, as the projectiles hit his chest and stomach. The hit was followed by an electrical surge that made him drop to his knees. Sabine got up to help Ezra, but two Commandos surrounded her and quickly decked her in the stomach and threw into the hands of another two. The leader, who just tossed Ezra over to another two troopers, walked over to Sabine. He took off her helmet to get a better look.

"A Wren and a Jedi…" He growled. "The master will be pleased…"

He then turned to the rest of his troops.

"Cuff 'em!" He called. "The master will have question!"

The troopers obliged. They cuffed up both Ezra and Sabine and began to drag them away. Of course, they took their weapons. One Commando took Sabine's helmet, cause why not?

Speaking of Felix, he has been in a fisticuffs fight with Locus. Up on the roof of the block D4. They were still trading punches and kicks. Locus would even pull a cheap shot and shoot Felix with his arm blaster, which got Felix by his shoulder. Felix responded with a blaster shot to Locus hand, disabling the blaster.

"Well, you certainly aren't a pushover!" Locus chuckled.

"Duly noted!" Felix replied, going for another punch.

The punch landed on Locus's helmet, throwing it off. Locus adjusted his jaw, and quickly kicked Felix. Felix fell back, and fell onto some pipes. Smoke hissed everywhere. He got back up, only to get a punch to the face from Locus again.

"Reminds you of old times, doesn't it?" Locus chuckled. "Training you when you were just a pipsqueak?"

Felix grunted, and quickly flipped out his pistols. He fired rapidly, but Locus quickly dodged them all. He then got to cover. He loaded some kind of vial into his arm blaster and got it ready. Felix slowly approached Locus's cover, and once he got around to it, Locus was gone. Locus then flipped out of nowhere and fired the vial straight into the side of Felix's neck. He grunted, and he ripped it out of him.

"What did you do to me?" He asked.

"What did I do _to_ you?" Locus replied. "What did I do _for_ you?"

Felix raised an eyebrow.

"That's lithium dioxide." Locus explained. "It's should dampen the effects of your palladium core."

Felix quickly raised his pistols again.

"How did you know about that?" He asked.

"I know a lot of things, kid." Locus chuckled.

Then, the two begin to walk in a circle opposite each other.

"Why did you betray us?" Felix asked. "Father brought you in from Saxon, and that is how you repay us?"

Locus begin to chuckle, then he laughed out loud.

"What's funny?" Felix asked.

"I'm sorry…" Locus recovered. "You actually thought I was with you?"

"I've been assigned to you destroy your clan from the inside." He went on. "After that was done, I gave all of your future projects to the Empire, and to myself."

Felix had had enough. He yelled, and charged. Locus received the charge with a knee kick to Felix's stomach, and then another punch to the face. He then threw Felix off of the roof. Locus looked down, only to look up as Felix tore up into the air with his wings out.

"Impressive." Locus smiled. "Looks like you've improved with your wings."

Felix grimaced, and dived down. Locus quickly rolled out of the way. And behind his back, he pressed some buttons on his wrist. Felix turned around and glared down.

"You and your clan were so weak." Locus went on. "Always staying to yourselves, keeping the technology for yourselves…"

"You could've become one of the leading houses of Mandalore!" Locus concluded. "I did something that your parents were too coward to do themselves."

"Why are you telling me this?" Felix asked.

"Because…" Locus said. "I want you to understand!"

"And…" He added. "I want to show a little friend I've made in my spare time."

Then, out of the roof, sprang forward a giant flying object. It cut Felix's chest plate and breast plate, slightly exposing his Arc Reactor. It also threw him off balance, but he regained it with the use of his wings.

"What the hell…?!" He said.

The giant flying object slowly came into shape. From what Felix could make out, it appeared to have wings on its sides, and there were also turbines behind the wings. And the wings appeared to have razor sharp blades on its edges. It hovered for a bit and then lowered itself down to Locus, who had just picked up his helmet from the ground. It was a jetpack, but massive looking.

"You think you're the only one with fancy wings?" Locus asked.

He then put on his helmet. The visor glowed into an evil shade of green. Locus moved his arms back, and the pack attached mandibles to his arm. Locus then slowly took to the air.

"Let's see who's better at flying now." Locus said with a smile in his voice.

Locus then took off to the air. He flew up, and then he dove straight towards Landing Bay 12, right where the rebels are boxed in. Felix realized this, and also took off in that direction.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Sabine and Ezra were still being dragged through the factory's hallways by the Shadow Commandoes. Both finally regained conscientiousness, and looked around.

"Hey, they're coming to." Said one of the Commandoes.

"Stay down!" ordered another.

Ezra and Sabine were still groggy, but they realized what was going on. Sabine recovered a bit quicker than Ezra, so she knew what her next move is. She quickly sent her legs forward, giving her some footing. She then backflipped out of the Commandoes' grasp, and quickly knocked them out with a quick bashing of helmets. The leader noticed this, and ordered the two holding Ezra to restrain her. He then grabbed Ezra and began to run down. Sabine grabbed a blaster rifle from one of the unconscientious Commandoes, and quickly fired at the two that was coming for her. They went down easily, and grabbed her pistols from them. She aimed carefully at the leader, and shot him in the back.

"Hey, get up!" Sabine shouted when she walked up to Ezra.

Ezra shook his head, and opened his eyes.

"Oh…" He groaned. "I'm going to feel that in the morning…"

Sabine grabbed her helmet, and picked up Ezra.

"Well, we better find Felix." She suggested.

"Where do we start?" Ezra asked.

Just then, the intercoms went off with a green alarm going off.

"All personnel, be advised." The intercoms said. "The Vulture is airborne. Repeat, the Vulture is airborne."

"The Vulture?" Ezra asked.

"We should get outside." Sabine advised.

Then, the two ran outside.

'Let's hope Felix is okay…' Sabine thought to herself.

Meanwhile, back out in Landing Bay 12, the rebels were still at a shootout with the Empire. The heavy artillery has sort backed down because of the rebel's air support, but they were still wearing down the rebels.

"We can't keep this up forever!" Zeb called.

Kanan tried to make another comment, but he quickly had to make another shot at a Bastion. But that did squat, as the Bastion switch to its turret form, and immediately started to fire. Kanan had to pull out his lighsaber just to counter it. It took a while, but with some deflecting, the Bastion was defeated.

Hera was shooting as well, but she kept on looking at the sky.

"Hey, if you're worried for the fighters, go!" Kanan shouted.

Hera nodded as thanks, and quickly left to the Phantom. The Phantom detached, and quickly flew into the sky. As the Phantom took off, Zeb looked up and noticed something odd.

"Hey!" He shouted. "What's that?"

Kanan looked up and also saw what Zeb saw. There were two figures, not fighters, were shooting each other with several laser blasts, and a beam?

"What's going on up there?" He asked.

Felix had never been in this kind of fight. A dogfight with another someone with a pair of wings. He and Locus locked in with each other, often trading punches, and would only separate with kicks. Locus also had some kind of laser-emitter which he modified to shoot laser beams. Locus would barely miss just by inches.

"Well, you got some skills." Locus complimented.

He then quickly ducked. Felix also ducked. Then, right over their heads, a TIE Striker and an A-Wing flew over their heads.

"Whoa." Felix said to himself. "I have to look out for…"

But then, Locus charged in with his legs out. When his feet made contact with Felix's torso, three talons stuck out from his ankles and dug into Felix. He would then swing around and threw him. Felix recovered from the throw.

Hera, still flying the Phantom, saw what was going on. She looked to her side and saw Felix and giant flying thing.

"Is that…?" She thought.

She then flew over to the fight. Felix looked over just in time to see.

"Wait!" He shouted.

Locus looked over to the Phantom approaching them. He lifted his laser beam gun and fired a shot. Hera quickly swerved, and she retaliated. She fired several shots, only for Locus to dodge them easily. Then, the Phantom roared past the two flyers. Locus then thought of an idea. He revved his pack and flew after the Phantom. Felix noticed and also went after him.

Locus caught up to the Phantom, and immediately began to make his move. He first made it to the roof. He then readied the blades on his wings. He jabbed the blades into the side of the Phantom.

"Hey!" Hera shouted from the inside. "Get off my ship!"

Hera then began to spin around madly. Locus grabbed on tightly with his talons, but was eventually thrown off. But he was satisfied. He had damaged the ship enough.

Hera tried to reengage, but then a warning popped up. She noticed the hull was too damaged for continuous flight. She had to come down.

Hera eventually landed the Phantom back onto the Ghost's back port, and tried to get out, but Locus landed on the windshield of the ship. She raised her pistols, but Locus smashed the window out and proceeded to rip her out of it.

"Well, hello there." Locus smiled.

He then threw her towards the rebels. Luckily, Kanan caught her.

"Made a new friend?" He asked.

"Real funny!" Hera replied.

Locus then landed on the ground. He aimed the laser emitter at them. But he raised his wings to deflect some laser shots. Sabine and Ezra quickly ran towards the fight. They quickly joined the crew.

"What did we miss?" Ezra shouted.

"Not much!" Kanan shouted back.

Then Locus tried to shoot again, but Felix swooped in and kicked him from the back. Locus got back up and began to fire the laser emitter again. The Ghost crew and the Rebel soldiers continued to fire. Felix begin to swoop in, but Locus fired the laser emitter at his wings, knocking him into the ground. Then, Locus begin to fly towards the downed Felix, but he was pushed back by the constant stream of lasers from the rebels.

"This is Hammer!" Locus shouted into his comms. "Bomb Landing Bay 12 immediately!"

"But sir!" shouted the person on the other end. "We still have troops there!"

"I don't care!" Locus screamed.

From afar, TIEs then began to dive down towards the Landing Bay 12. The roaring ion engines got closer and louder.

"We got incoming!" Rex called.

Everyone looked up and saw the TIEs diving towards them.

"Everybody run!" Kanan screamed.

All soldiers began to run. Felix also tried to run, but he had to limp most of the way, because the fall had taken out his leg. Sabine tried to go back, but Ezra stopped her.

The bombings began. Explosions began to consume the Landing Bay, and all of the occupants of that said area were consumed by the explosions. Stormtroopers, Bastions, and even some of the heavy artillery. Locus grunted as he was taken into the fire and brim. Felix only took the physical damage, only being blown into the hull of the Iced Shell.

When the bombings were done, the Rebels got out of their cover to see what happened. Miraculously, both the Iced Shell and the Ghost were untouched. Sabine began to look around for Felix.

"Felix!" She called. "Where are you?!"

Ezra began to look for Felix as well.

"There!" He shouted.

Ezra pointed to a stack of crates with some fires nearby. There was Felix, still conscientious, groaning from the pain. Sabine quickly ran over to him and began to help him out. She then slouched him over her shoulder and began to drag him back.

"Thanks…" Felix groaned.

"Don't mention it." Sabine smiled.

The two slowly walked towards the rebels.

"Guys!" Ezra suddenly shouted. "Behind you!"

Before they could realize it, the two Mandalorians were launched forward and landed on their stomachs. They both shook their heads and looked up. Standing in front of them, was Locus, with his pack sparking and making whirring noises.

"Hey there, pipsqueak." He said with a mix of smile and anger in his voice.

He launched himself forward again. Sabine raised her pistols, but Felix shoved her out of the way. Locus kicked Felix back, sending him into another set of debris.

"We have to help him!" Ezra called.

One rebel soldier raised his blaster, but was immediately shot through his chest. The rebels looked behind them and saw four droids. They had a three-barreled chain blaster for a right arm, and they were four-legged.

"Cease your resistance." Said one of the droids.

Then, all of the droids began to fire rapidly. Most of the rebel soldiers began to go down in single shots. All of the rebels managed to get to cover, but the constant stream of laser blasts was wearing down all of their cover. Ezra and Kanan ignited their lightsabers just to give the rebels some cover.

Meanwhile, Felix was still getting tossed around like a rag doll by Locus. As his wings are damaged, Felix can't get into the air. Locus tossed him around, and then he would pick him up by his talons again, and then threw him up into the air. And when Felix detached the talons from him, Felix would just free fall to the ground. But as he fell, Felix fired several laser bolts from his pistols, but Locus had a different plan he just slammed Felix into the ground. He would pick him up by his talons, and then slam him back down, and then do the same thing again. After he was done with that, he would give Felix a moment to flip himself around to catch his breath.

Locus chuckled, and then he moved his arms around. Using the blades on the wings, he picked him up by his inner jump suit. And as he picked him up, Felix's helmet fell off. Locus made whirring noises that resembled an actual vulture's caw, and prepared to make his strike. He also noticed that Felix's Arc Reactor was beginning to make some funny noises as well.

So, Locus ripped off his chest armor, and threw him back down onto the ground. Felix groaned from the pain, but he couldn't take what came next. Locus flew up and then dove down to his torso. Locus then used his talons to slowly crush his chest, making Felix scream in pain.

"Don't worry…" Locus whispered. "This will hurt for a short bit."

Then, he felt a laser shot to his shoulder. He looked up and saw Sabine. She had one pistol out, and she was pointing it at Locus. Locus scoffed, and then he just kicked Felix to the side.

"Well…" He chuckled. "You're either undeniably brave, or just incredibly foolish."

Locus then darted forward with that same vulture caw he did a few minutes ago. Sabine kept on firing. But she was taken up into the air.

Meanwhile, the OR-14s are continuing their string of fire on the rebel forces. In the midst of the panic, more Stormtroopers and Bastions have made it to support the monstrous droids.

"We're pinned down!" Rex shouted.

All the rebels popped out of their cover and fired, but since the OR-14s have put out small, but formidable shield barriers, the lasers were just absorbed. Kanan peeked out of his cover, and observed the OR-14s movements.

"Ezra!" He called. "Can you stun the droids?"

"I can try!" Ezra replied.

He quickly ran towards the OR-14s and fired several stun shots. But the droids were planned for that. Suddenly, the droid that he was aiming at clenched a fist with its hand. Then, the droid emitted a special shielding around itself. The stun shot dispersed on the droid's head. The droid turned to Ezra and began to fire on him. Ezra quickly ducked out of the way.

"Well, I tried!" He called.

Zeb had had enough. He couldn't take being pinned down any longer. But he had to think of something. He can't just rush in blindly.

"Hey, Rex!" He whispered loudly. "You got any explosives?"

Rex reached into his pack, and pulled out one grenade. He tossed it over to Zeb.

"It's my last one though." He mentioned. "I hope you know what you're doing!"

"Yeah…" Zeb agreed. "I hope so too…"

He peeked out from his cover. He noticed that one of the shields that one of the droids have finally given out, shutting off. He used that opening to throw his grenade over. The grenade rolled right below one of the OR-14s, and exploded. The smoke covered the droid completely. When the smoke cleared, the droid wasn't moving. Instead, they felt on all four of their knees, and then the torso heavily, with impact, fell on the ground.

"That's it!" Zeb cheered.

Rex also saw this, so he decided to spread the word. So, he turned on his commlink and began to talk into how to take out the OR-14s. And one by one, the rebels began to take down the OR-14s and their supports.

While all that was going on, Sabine and Felix were still fighting Locus. At this point, Locus had thrown Sabine into a pile of crates. Then, as she began to recover, Locus threw Felix right into Sabine's stomach. Locus chuckled as his jetpack and wings continued to spark and fizz. He then flew up and used his talons to grab a large metallic pipe. Felix saw this incoming, and quickly grabbed Sabine. Locus then threw the pipe, but Felix was able to get both himself and Sabine out of the way as the pipe demolished the pile of crates.

"You are really resilient, aren't you?" Locus chuckled.

Felix scoffed, and gently placed Sabine on some debris. As soon as Felix began to move back, Locus dived forward. Felix, with some effort, finally got his wings out, and attached it to his arms. Locus tore past the left wing, making a giant gash on it. Felix pressed some buttons, and detached the wing. He then threw the wing at Locus, who was sent back due to the impact. Felix began to run towards where Locus had landed, but Locus shot forward, pinning Felix. Locus nailed Felix into a pillar. The pain was too much Felix to handle. As such, he lost his focus and slowly, his conscience. He became groggy. Locus threw Felix to his back. He then used his talons to pin Felix down. The wings then ripped apart the last bit of Felix's chest apart, revealing his Arc Reactor. Locus carefully then placed his hand on the Arc Reactor. He began to slowly twist it, disengaging the locks. Felix suddenly felt a sharp pain, as if his heart was being torn out, which technically, is not far off.

"Don't worry." Locus smiled evilly. "I'll make sure to put it to good use."

Then, he felt a blaster shot to his arm, which made him let go of the Arc Reactor. Felix was able to use this chance to lock the Arc Reactor back in place. Locus growled at Sabine, which made her shoot at him more. She shot him in the shoulder, the leg, then the head. Locus had turned around to take the pain. This gave an opening for Sabine. She aimed carefully, and then pulled the trigger. The laser bolt landed right on the center of the jetpack. The jetpack began to make more fizzing and sparking. And it even malfunctioned, such as the turbines often whirring and spinning, the wing blades even open and close, and the wings articulating all over the place. This went on for some time, and Locus even stepped away from Felix. He even flew up into the air. But eventually, the pack exploded, consuming Locus along with it. The smoke and fire landed in a pile of ash and fire a bit away from Felix.

Sabine quickly ran over to Felix. She quickly helped him up.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah…" Felix replied, breathlessly.

He looked out to the burning ashes of something, which he realized soon that it was Locus.

"He's gone." Sabine assured.

Felix panted slowly. He's nightmare had finally cease to exist. Sabine then slouched Felix over her shoulder and began to move her towards the docking bays, where both the _Ghost_ and the _Iced Shell_ are parked.

"I'm sorry…" Felix whispered.

"Huh?" Sabine muttered.

"For almost getting you killed for my own personal issues…" Felix admitted. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be like that." Sabine replied. "We were just here to help."

Felix scoffed, but Sabine just smiled.

"Besides." She added. "Remember how I owed you one?"

Felix looked at Sabine. He then remembered. Back at the Academy, when he stood up for her to a crew of bullies.

"Well, take this for the owe." She smirked.

Felix let out a soft chuckle. Sabine smiled. But that small form of humor was cut short when a laser bolt tore through the air and right through Felix's chest. And not just through his chest, right through his Arc Reactor. All of Felix's functions stopped working, he fell unconscientious, and plopped to the ground on his front.

From Kanan and the others side, they heard a loud scream of "NO!".

"That sounded like Sabine!" Ezra pointed out.

"Kanan." Rex called. "I'll get everyone out of here. You get over there."

"Got it." Kanan replied.

And with that said, Kanan, Zeb, Hera, and Ezra ran towards the direction of where the scream came from. Rex, on the other hand, began to hail for the U-Wings to get everyone out.

Kanan and company reached Sabine trying to rehabilitate Felix.

"Hey, what happened?" Kanan asked.

Zeb then pointed at something. Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing at. Locus, panting like a wild animal. He had a rifle out with smoke coming out of the barrel. He then smiled madly. Zeb quickly put him back down with another clear shot to the head.

"Felix…" Sabine spluttered, trying to hide her shock. "Is he… can we…?"

"Hey, hey. Get it together!" Hera assured, grabbing hold of her. "Just get him to medical! We're getting out of here!"

Hera then carefully escorted Sabine, still holding her. Kanan and Zeb both slouched Felix over their shoulders, and Ezra covered their backs. They all made their way to the two parked ships.

"Hera!" Ezra called. "We'll take the Iced Shell! You guys cover us on the Ghost!"

"Copy that." Hera responded.

Then, carefully transferring, Kanan switched places with Ezra. Then, Sabine, along with Zeb, Ezra, and an almost-dead Felix, boarded the _Iced Shell_. Bee and R8 were waiting anxiously for them.

"My goodness!" Bee exclaimed. "What happened?"

"No time!" Ezra cut off. "Is there a medical bay here?"

"Yes!" Bee replied. "R8 will show you!"

"Good, because we are leaving!" Zeb added.

R8 then guided Zeb and Ezra over to the medical bay, where they began to set up the equipment for Felix. Bee, with Sabine, made it to the cockpit and began to make preparations to depart.

Hera and Kanan boarded the _Ghost_ , and Rex was waiting to greet them.

"Is everyone else on that other ship?" He asked.

"Yep!" Hera replied hastily.

She quickly got to the cockpit. With Kanan and Rex on the guns, she then got the _Ghost_ up in the air, slowly followed by the _Iced Shell._ The two ships were followed by three U-Wings that brought the extra rebel troopers. They were then joined by the remaining A-Wings that survived the battle. As they exited the planet's surface and eventually got into space, they were pursued by Imperial Navy. And while they did lose some A-Wings, they were able to get away with only a few scratches. And all the while, Sabine silently prayed that Felix be able to make it.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The Phoenix fleet silently rode the vacuum of space. However, the situation is tense. The Ghost crew were standing in front of the med-bay doors. Sabine, in particular, was pacing back and forth in front of the doors.

"Hey, will you stop pacing?" Zeb asked.

"Well, you'd be pacing too if you were holding him too!" Sabine shot back, with visible sadness in her voice.

Kanan stepped up and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"He's going to make it." He assured. "Don't worry."

Ezra was about to say something, but he bit his lip. Just then, the doors slid open, and the Ghost crew poured into the bay.

"How is he?" Sabine asked.

The medics looked at each other, and then the main medic spoke up.

"Well, under his droids' instructions, we were able to stabilize him." He said.

He then revealed Felix's current state of body. His chest was connected to an average sized generator placed next to the bed. He had on a breath mask on his face, and he had thousands of wires connected to his chest from various computers. The Ghost crew was horrified by this sight.

"But this is only temporary." The medic said. "Unless we are able to find a legitimate way to cure him, he's not going anywhere."

"Thank you for your efforts." Hera said. "At least he's out of the woods."

Sabine resisted the urge to cry, and just bolted outside. Ezra went after her. Then the rest of the crew went out after. The medics returned to their work.

Ezra searched the entire ship, but he couldn't find Sabine anywhere. He turned around and saw the rest of the Ghost crew.

"Did you guys find her?" He asked.

"We looked everywhere." Rex replied. "There's no sign of her."

Ezra thought hard for a bit. Then, he had an idea. He then walked.

"Hey, where are you going?" Zeb called.

"I think I know where she might be!" Ezra called back.

Ezra, followed by the rest of the crew, then boarded the IcedShell. Upon entry, they immediately heard whimpering sounds. Kanan stepped forward, but Hera stopped him.

"Let Ezra do this." She said.

Ezra nodded, and carefully walked on. The Ghost crew waited patiently as Ezra walked into the corridors.

It wasn't difficult to find Sabine. Ezra found her the moment he entered the living room. Sabine was just sitting on the couch, covering her eyes with her hands. But visible water droplets dropped from her hands and dripped onto the floor.

"Hey." Ezra called.

Sabine looked up and saw Ezra. She began to wipe her eyes hastily.

"Oh, uh… hey, Ezra." She replied weakly.

Ezra sat down next to her. He then held her hand.

"Stop pretending." He said.

Sabine sighed deeply. This was one of the rare moments of her ever spilling her feelings to anyone. But, since she trusted Ezra, she decided to tell him. Wiping her eyes again, Sabine spoke.

"Felix and I've known each other for a while…" She admitted. "And y'know… I started developing this… well, infatuation… I think?"

"I think you call that love." Ezra teased.

Sabine paused at the word. This was true, but she's been denying any sense of it. Ketsu teased her about it, and while she brushed it off as just a tease, it was true.

"With that kind of explanation, it's not hard to decipher." Ezra added.

Sabine breathed in again, and then spoke.

"Now, the first love of my life is now connected to a bunch of machines with his life on a really line!" She mentioned, depressed. "How do I help him?"

Ezra thought. The only that came to his mind was the palladium that Felix constantly installed into him.

"I don't think we can…" He whispered.

"What do you mean?" Sabine asked.

Then, Ezra explained the Arc Reactor Felix had in the place of his heart. He went on to explain that the power source of the said Arc Reactor was slowly eating him away internally. Essentially telling her that even if they saved him, Felix's days are still numbered. Sabine then slouched down her seat.

"Then… there's no way we can help him?" She asked.

Ezra was about to answer, but then Bee walked in. He appeared to be holding something. Bee turned to the two young teens.

"Am I… interrupting something?" He asked.

"Uh, no." Ezra answered.

"What's that in your hand, Bee?" Sabine asked, getting up.

Bee looked at his hand, and then understood what she meant.

"This is Felix's destroyed Arc Reactor." Bee replied. "They were about to throw it out for spare parts, but R8 was able to salvage it. I was about to put this into his storage containers."

Sabine then sprang up and landed in front of Bee. She eyed the Arc Reactor suspiciously.

"Can I… take a look at it?" She asked.

Bee looked back and forth at Sabine and then the Arc Reactor. Then, without uttering a word, he handed Sabine the Arc Reactor. He then walked back to Felix's bedside. Sabine's mind was going a mile a second.

"What are you thinking…?" Ezra asked nervously.

Sabine smiled, and then she ran out. Ezra went after her, but tripped over some tools R8 dropped. The two teens ran out of the Iced Shell and into the Ghost.

Several hours have passed, and Sabine never emerged from her room. Kanan, Hera, Rex, Zeb, and Chopper was just in the living room, resting.

"How long has she been in there?" Kanan asked, handing Hera a warm drink.

"Several hours, I think?" Hera replied, sipping the drink.

Zeb and Rex turned back from their game of Dejarik, just in time to see Hera stand corrected. Sabine's door opened, and Sabine walked out, yawning loudly. Behind her, Ezra walked out as well, stretching. Chopper rolled up to them and said something condescending to them.

"Chopper!" Hera scolded. "Language!"

Chopper shrugged, and just rolled up next to Rex.

"It's just no good!" Sabine groaned, slouching down next to Hera. "I can't make heads or tails out of that thing!"

That thing was the Arc Reactor. She had taken it apart to further study its components, but putting it back together was when the problems presented themselves. The Reactor itself was no problem; the palladium was the problem. Sabine and Ezra had spent these past few hours just trying to figure out a different power source, but every element they've tried make the Reactor malfunction. The last element they've tried had finally given out the Reactor, which was a smoking heap of metal now.

"At this rate, we might never get Felix back on his feet." Ezra said.

Sabine choked up at the thought. She didn't want that. Hera pulled her in to her side to provide comfort.

"Keep at it." Kanan suggested. "A solution will present itself soon enough."

Just then, Bee and R8 walked in.

"Hello." Bee said.

"Hey, Bee." Rex called. "What are you here for?

"I'm just here to inform you that R8 has found something that might help your endeavors." Bee replied.

"Really?" Sabine asked hopefully.

R8 then rolled up and beeped eagerly. She then projected a holo-recording. She played it all the way up to a specific part.

"No way." Kanan replied after the recording was turned off. "No. Way."

"C'mon, Kanan!" Sabine pleaded. "This is for Felix!"

"Even if it is, no way!" Kanan said.

Kanan pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a lot going on already, and this was just icing on the cake.

"Kyber crystals are the rarest minerals in the galaxy!" Kanan explained. "You guys can't just expect to find it wandering out in the middle of nowhere!"

"If they exist, they are out there!" Sabine retorted. "Remember how Ezra got his?"

"That was a special condition!" Kanan shot back. "We can't just mine these things out of a rock!"

"Well… that's not entirely false." Bee added.

Everyone stopped when Bee said what he said.

"What do you mean?" Hera asked.

R8 beeped and booped. Bee spoke after that.

"Yes… as my partner so eloquently described…" He added, a bit annoyed. "We have been listening on private Imperial radio chatter for a working, and we have heard a bit about Kyber crystals."

"Have you tried tracing the signal of that transmission?" Rex asked.

"We have saved it, just in case." Bee replied. "We might be able to pinpoint its general broadcast origin, but it may take some time."

"I can help with that." Rex said, standing up. "Chopper, you help too!"

Chopper saluted, and rolled away with Rex, Bee, and R8. Hera took that as a signal for another adventure, so she went up to cockpit and began to set up. And on the way, she contacted Sato. Kanan left with Hera to the cockpit as well, followed by Sabine, Zeb and Ezra.

Bee, R8, Rex, and Chopper worked on the Iced Shell's transmission radio. They try to isolate the frequency of the specific transmission they were tracking. It took some time, but in the end, they finally got it. And with that result, Rex and Chopper rolled back to the Ghost. Bee and R8 stayed behind, as Felix wouldn't be happy that they left him for some joyride.

Rex and Chopper came to the cockpit.

"You guys got the location?" Hera asked.

"Yeah." Rex replied. "We pinpointed the origin of that transmission."

"Where's it from?" Zeb asked.

Chopper beeped as he plugged in and presented them the location.

"The Terrabe sector?" Ezra asked. "I don't know where that is."

"I do." Sabine replied. "It's in the Mid Rim. Heart of Imperial Territory."

"That just adds to the fun!" Hera smiled.

She then brought the Ghost to life, and grabbed the controls. And with that, the Ghost detached from the Phoenix flagship and flew away. And once they were far enough away, they jumped to hyperspace.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Several days have passed. The Ghost is still within the Terrabe Sector, searching for answers. The hardest at work was Sabine, who was doing whatever she can to get the answers. At times, she is often pulled back by Ezra to keep from killing their only contact. But after a lot of convincing, they had finally got the fruits.

The Ghost came out of hyperspace. They had just reached the planet within their sights. However, they weren't going to the planet below. They were going to the planet's moon.

"There it is." Ezra admitted.

"So, what we need to find is down there?" Hera asked.

"Yep." Sabine replied.

The Ghost carefully descended into the moon's atmosphere. As they went down, the crew looked out to see what the planet looked like. It was nothing but deserts for thousands of miles with a lot of insane rock formations. Chopper was scanning the planet for any signs of Imperial goons. When he did detect something, he whooped madly.

"Whoa, whoa, Chop!" Hera said. "What did you find during the scan?"

Chopper calmed down and then projected a hologram. It showed a city. Ironically, it was the exact place where they needed to go. But the problem wasn't the city itself. The problem was the ginormous Star Destroyer above the city. And in the space between the Star Destroyer and the city, were tiny blips going back and forth between the city and the Star Destroyer.

"Well, the Empire has certainly made themselves a home here." Zeb commented.

Hera then gently landed the Ghost underneath a rock formation, concealed from any Imperial patrol. Hera then turned around to talk about what they're going to do.

"Alright, Sabine." She began. "You're the spearhead of this. What do we do?"

"Honestly, I don't have one really." Sabine admitted.

"Wait, seriously?" Ezra muttered.

Sabine shrugged.

"To be honest, I was just going to make a plan as we went along." She added.

"Alright." Rex said. "A plan is always subject to change."

"Well, this much I have set though." Sabine replied. "It would be best for me, Kanan, Rex and Ezra to go."

"Why just us?" Ezra asked.

"We should be able to blend in." Sabine explained. "This place isn't quite well-known to house… aliens."

She tried to say the word alien as unoffensively as possible, but Hera and Zeb took it fairly well.

"Alright." Hera said. "We'll be on standby here."

"Just be ready to make a quick getaway." Sabine added.

Later, Sabine, Kanan, Ezra, and Rex walked across the empty, and sandy deserts of the planet. Smartly, Sabine and Rex had left their helmets to avoid attention. It took a while, and the sun was rather scorching, but when the city came into view, they decided to get some rest. Rex grabbed a pair of binoculars to observe.

"Well…" He muttered. "The real thing doesn't match up to the hologram."

Kanan walked up and looked up. Rex wasn't kidding. That Imperial Star Destroyer was looming over the city like piercing eyes. He grabbed Rex's binoculars and looked through it. He noticed something.

"What's with those TIEs and shuttles going to and from the city?" Kanan asked.

"Who knows?" Rex asked. "It could be Kyber Crystals."

Kanan put the binoculars away. He turned to Ezra and Sabine.

"Alright." He called. "Break time's over."

Ezra and Sabine got up. They were ready. Kanan clapped his hands once, and then led the squad up to the city.

They arrived shortly. The city was very crammed to say the least. A bunch of salesmen were doing the best they can to make sales of their items and whatnot, while others seemed to be trying to live with the Imperial occupation. Occasionally, they would bump into the locals, getting rude remarks as well.

"This is quite a place…!" Ezra muttered, trying to get through the crowd of people.

Sabine, Rex, and Kanan were no different. They kept on bumping into people too, and tried their hardest not to fight.

"You sure this is the place?" Kanan asked.

They continued to walk towards the designated area. But they stopped for a short second.

"Sabine." Kanan said. "Rex, Ezra and I will split up from here. We'll mark that transport."

"And I'm staying here because…?" Sabine asked.

"Because in case we have to rendezvous back if it's a bust." Kanan explained.

Sabine sighed, but agreed. Ezra, Rex, and Kanan then just went off in three separate directions. Sabine now just stood there, just looking around. But there was something that she kept on hearing, but she kept on dismissing it. It was a phrase, and it was said as if a droid was on repeat. "May the force of others be with you."

"Trade your worries for a glimpse into your future?" asked the voice which was saying the line above.

Sabine looked around. She felt as if that was said to her.

"Yes." Said the voice again. "I'm speaking to you."

Sabine finally turned to the direction of the voice. It belonged to someone who appeared to be a hermit of some kind. He wasn't looking in her direction, but he clearly knew where she was. The hermit extended his hand and made a gesture that said come over. Sabine then cautiously walked over to him.

"How did you know I was worried?" She asked.

"For that answer, you must pay." The hermit chuckled. "Now, why are you so worried?"

Sabine gathered up her hands.

"My… how should I put it…" She started. "I'm trying to help a friend of mine… and I think…"

"This friend of yours..." The hermit interrupted. "Is he your lover?"

Sabine blushed lightly at that question.

"Yes…" Sabine replied weakly. "He is dying right now… and I trying to stop it…"

The hermit made a small hum with his as he thought about is answer.

"Death is only natural." The hermit responded. "All is as the Force wills it."

"Are you saying that I should let Felix die?" Sabine asked, with an angrier tone.

"I didn't say that." The hermit said. "I only said that events will only occur as the Force wills them to."

Sabine calmed down slowly, and tried to understand what the hermit said. But in her thoughts, her comms went off. She quickly received it.

"Yeah?" She responded.

"Sabine." Ezra said. "I found that convoy. Rendezvous at my location."

"Got it." Kanan spoke as well. "We'll be there."

Sabine also said the same thing, and began to walk off. But the hermit stopped her.

"I haven't heard your name." He said.

Sabine was a bit taken back by the question, but she responded anyway.

"I'm Sabine Wren." She replied.

"Sabine Wren…" The hermit muttered. "I'll remember that name."

"And you?" Sabine asked.

"I'm Chirrut Imwe." The hermit replied.

Sabine nodded at the answer, and then took off to where Ezra was. Chirrut smiled as she disappeared from his "sight".

A hover tank roamed through the city with Stormtroopers around. They seemed to be transporting something of value on the back. The citizens quickly began to get away from the Imperial escort that was incoming. From above, Rex was monitoring what he can observe.

"Eight troopers." He said. "Four on each side. There are two more a bit away from the tank. Front and back."

"What about the tank itself?" Kanan asked.

Rex then turned his attention to the tank.

"It doesn't seem like much." He stated. "Only 2 twin-barrel laser cannon on either side. But the armor is quite impenetrable."

"Hey, what about those two guys on the tank?" Ezra asked.

Sabine grabbed Rex's binoculars and looked through them. Ezra was right. There was one trooper on the top turret below another trooper that was quite exposed.

"If we take those out, the tank might be vulnerable." She suggested.

"Alright." Sabine went on. "Kanan, Rex. You two will take the troops guarding the tank. Ezra and I will go in and grabbed the cargo."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Sabine and Ezra then jumped down to ground level, and Rex and Kanan took up positions on the chokepoint, which was a bridge that the hover tank had to go under.

The hover tank slowly trotted along the ground, with its Stormtrooper escorts slowly walking by it. Unbeknownst to them, the rear guards of the escort were taken out quietly by the stealth of Sabine.

Then, the two guards up front were now underneath the bridge that the tank was about to go under, and scouted the surrounding location. Then, both of them were shot down. Unlike the two at the back, that attack was noticed by the escorts. That prompted the Stormtroopers to form a defensive perimeter around the tank, covering the cargo it was carrying. Then, two more troopers were shot down. They aimed at where the shots came from, and slowly Rex and Kanan revealed themselves, blasters blazing. The Stormtroopers all turned their attention over to the two rebels and slowly fired on them. Kanan and Rex quickly took cover behind some pillars, and grabbed a quick breath.

"Well, we got their attention!" Kanan shouted.

"That means we're doing it right!" Rex called back.

The Stormtrooper garrison continued to fire on Rex and Kanan, unknown to them that Ezra and Sabine were behind them. The two looked at each other cautiously. Sabine made some gestures with her hands, and then made a 'go' gesture. Then, the two charged in from the back, taking own two troopers from the back. The Stormtroopers turned their attention to them too, but were getting overwhelmed.

"Kyber Transport 3ZE1, requesting reinforcements to our current position!" shouted the Commander on the tank.

Ezra shot him a couple times, but he missed. The Commander then ordered the pilot of the tank to swing the tank around. He did so, and soon, the tank was facing the other way.

"Fire!" The Commander shouted.

The laser cannons on the tank slowly charged, and then it fired. It landed right between Sabine and Ezra, which Sabine quickly responded with a shot to the head. Ezra also stunned the Gunner below him. As they got onto the tank, and when they reached the cargo, Kanan and Rex shot down the final troopers.

"Well, that was easier than I thought." Rex commented.

Sabine went on to the cargo. She studied it, and figured out something. She reached for one of the circles on the cargo. She twisted it, and then the circle discharged out of it. It was a cylinder, and in the containment unit held a Kyber Crystal.

"I think this one might be too large." She said.

She set it aside, and continued to look for another. Then, she found what she was looking for. A containment unit with a Kyber Crystal, fit enough to be a lightsaber crystal.

"Hey!" Ezra commented. "That's small enough!"

Sabine nodded in agreement, and quickly stashed away the crystal in her pocket. Just then, small thudding sounds could be heard from afar.

"Looks like another party came!" Rex called out.

Then, all of them saw another garrison of Stormtroopers storming the area with an AT-ST coming up behind them. It began to fire as the rebels began to run. The Stormtroopers secured the Kyber crystals from the tank, and a squad was sent along with AT-ST to go after the rebels. The rebels took several detours around several alleyways, but they had to go out to the main road soon. That provided the AT-ST the opportunity to fire on them. One shot was a critical one, sending Sabine flying. Ezra stopped and went back for her, with Kanan and Rex giving him cover.

"Hey!" Ezra called, slouching Sabine over his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Banged my arm a bit, I'll be fine." Sabine replied.

Ezra then slowly helped Sabine get away. A Stormtrooper got up behind them, but they were shot down from above. Sabine noticed the shot, and saw where it came from. She saw Chirrut, not facing the battle, but only holding a bowcaster. He waved at her, and then disappeared. Sabine smirked unnoticeably.

Kanan and Rex continued to fire on the Imperial forces, but they weren't going anywhere at this point.

"We're not going to get out of this one!" Rex called.

"That can be arranged!" Kanan replied, reaching for his commlink. "Specter-2, come in!"

"Specter-1, what is it?" Hera contacted.

"We've got a little roadblock!" Kanan called. "We could use a pickup!"

"Copy that! We're coming now!" Hera replied.

Kanan then cut off comms, and continued firing. However, the AT-ST was certainly limiting their options for some kind of offensive. The Stormtroopers were getting cut down one by one, but the AT-ST was still at its peak.

"That walker got us pinned down!" Rex shouted.

Sabine reached to her belt, and grabbed a grenade. She threw it over, but a rare, attentive Stormtrooper shot it out of the air. When they were running out of steam, the Imperial forces were winning. Just then, the Ghost flew in from overhead and shot the AT-ST into oblivion. The smoldering wreck of the walker groaned and fell right on the remaining batch of Stormtroopers. The cargo hatch opened and Zeb stood on the ramp.

"Come on!" He shouted. "Come on! Hurry!"

One by one, the rebels got on board the Ghost. And with that said, the Ghost soon departed into the moon's sky, and out of its atmosphere. Following that, it exited the Jedha system, and jumped into hyperspace, back to the Phoenix fleet.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The Ghost crew is back with the main Phoenix Fleet. While the Ghost crew is still doing missions, Sabine most of the time, was locked in her room, tinkering with the Arc Reactor with the blueprints that R8 provided. Bee often assist her too. But every time she thinks she's got something, the Arc Reactor wouldn't activate. After a few more hours of trying, she finally gave up. She walked out of her room, bags under her eyes, and slouched down on the couch.

"So, how's it going?" Ezra asked teasingly.

Sabine yawned loudly, and mumbled something like an answer. Ezra smirked, and sat alongside her.

"How long as she been going like this?" Kanan asked.

"Approximately 35 hours, 26 minutes, and 32 seconds." Bee replied, trotting past him. "Not counting the moment you lot came back from Jedha."

Kanan turned to ask Sabine a question, but he found that she had curled up with her hand set by her face, sleeping. Kanan shrugged and he carefully placed a pillow under her head. And as the Kanan did that, Ezra took a small peek inside Sabine's room. On her desk, he found an empty Arc Reactor, and a Kyber Crystal that they had acquired from Jedha. He went in and picked up the Crystal. He noticed that unlike his Crystal, which was blue when he got it, this one was clear.

"Hey, Kanan?" He called.

Kanan walked up to Ezra behind him.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Are these Crystals meant to be clear-looking?" Ezra asked, showing Kanan the Crystal.

Kanan took the Crystal from Ezra, and observed it. He noticed that it was clear.

"I'm… not sure." He replied. "All I see are the colored ones."

Kanan gave the Crystal back to Ezra, who was still curious about the clear color of the Crystal. Then, he had a thought. He gently closed his hand, and then concentrated. He felt the Crystal in his hand, and slowly, he opened it. The Crystal just sat there for a bit, but then, it glowed a color of bright blue. It shone brightly, illuminating the darkness of Sabine's room.

"Whoa…" Ezra muttered, holding the Crystal.

Ezra then held the Crystal higher. Kanan was also surprised by this.

"How did you do that?" He asked.

Ezra shrugged, and just sat the Crystal back on the desk. Just then, Sabine, awake, and Bee walked in.

"Why are you guys in my room?" Sabine asked.

Bee then pointed at her desk. Sabine looked in the direction of where Bee was pointing, and saw the glowing Kyber Crystal on her desk.

"Wait…" She started. "It wasn't glowing before!"

She then looked at Kanan and Ezra.

"Did you guys…?" She said.

Ezra shrugged, followed by Kanan. Sabine then sat down on her desk, and looked at the Crystal. She then looked at the Arc Reactor. She had made all of the adjustments to it to fit the Crystal.

"Guys?" Sabine asked.

Ezra and Kanan then approached her from behind.

"Could you like… uh… float the thing into this?" Sabine asked.

"Well… we could try." Ezra replied.

Kanan and Ezra then raised their hands outward slowly. Then, both the Arc Reactor and the Crystal slowly rose into the air. Ezra handled the Arc Reactor, as he used the Force to slowly disassemble its parts. Once the disassembly was completed, Kanan took over. He floated the Crystal into the main core, and allowed Ezra to encase it again as the two worked together to reassemble the Arc Reactor. After that, the Jedi slowly sat the Arc Reactor back on the desk. The Arc Reactor glowed a bluish white color, as it slowly whirred. Sabine was stunned by the beauty of it. Bee walked over and picked it up.

"Congratulations, all of you." He stated. "The reactor has accepted the new core. I'll begin diagnostics on it shortly."

Sabine breathed out heavily, and sat down on a chair. Kanan placed a hand on her shoulder.

"After all that…" Sabine sighed happily.

"Hey." Kanan smiled. "You did good."

Just then, R8 burst into the room, beeping wildly.

"Whoa, whoa, R8!" Bee called. "What's going on?!"

R8 beeped and whooped madly again, and Bee understood what that meant immediately. He looked at Sabine, Kanan, and Ezra, and then he just ran out.

"Hey!" Ezra shouted. "Where are you going?!"

He, followed by Kanan and Sabine, ran out and followed Bee and R8 back to the med bay of the Phoenix main vessel. Sabine realized this, and picked up speed. When they arrived, it was a madhouse. They saw that the monitors were beginning to flat out, and they were desperately trying everything they can. Felix was moving, but all over his torso, extending from his neck and down to his waist, where lines that were the side effects of palladium. Sabine covered her mouth in shock.

"What's going on?" Kanan asked.

"We don't know sir!" A medic panicked. "We're trying to sort out the problem right now!"

Just then, Hera and Zeb walked up.

"Kanan, what's happening?" She asked.

"Felix is going critical!" Kanan answered. "We have to do something!"

Just then, Sabine recovered from the shock, and thought of something.

"Wait…" She started. "What about that Arc Reactor?"

She stood up and ran back. She found the Arc Reactor still on her desk, still shining. She quickly grabbed it, and ran back.

"You sure that thing is going to work?" Zeb asked.

"We'll have to see." Sabine answered.

She then slowly approached Felix's bedside. All of the medics stopped one by one to watch. R8 had her mandibles out as she was gently holding Felix's hand. Bee, on the other hand, was just worried.

"I haven't finished my diagnostics on it!" He said.

"We don't have that kind of time!" Sabine retorted.

Sabine finally reached her location, and was now right over Felix. Bee had positioned himself over the main tube that supplied the palladium for Felix's body to be active, and was ready to disengage it when Sabine gave the word. R8 grabbed onto her owner's hand tighter, and the Ghost crew stood back and watched.

"Now!" Sabine called.

Bee twisted the tube, and smoke slowly fizzed out as he pulled the tube away. Now, where the tube used to be, was a gaping metal hole in Felix's chest. Sabine carefully placed the Arc Reactor into the metal hole. The Reactor adjusted itself along with the hole, and finally secured its position. Slowly, the Reactor responded to the Felix's body. At first, nothing seemed to happen, other than the Arc Reactor glowing.

"Look!" Ezra shouted.

Then, they all noticed. The lines on Felix's body slowly began to recede back towards the chest area, and then disappeared as they went back into the Arc Reactor. And finally, with one final flash of light, everyone covered their eyes.

When the light subsided, everyone slowly looked again. Felix was still lying on the bed. It appears that they were too late.

"No…!" Sabine uttered. "No…!"

She then grabbed Felix's hand, and slowly wept. R8 beeped sadly, and Bee just looked away. Ezra took a step towards Sabine, but Hera stopped him.

"Uh…" moaned a voice. "Can someone turn down the noise?"

Everyone turned to see the source of the voice. Sabine looked up and was surprised. Felix was sitting up, holding his head. He then looked at Sabine.

"It's too loud." He smiled.

Sabine wiped some tears off her eyes, and just playfully punched him.

"Thanks for making me worry, you big idiot!" She said, happy.

Felix scratched the back of his head, smiling. But then he held his chest, now noticing the new Arc Reactor.

"Whoa…" He muttered. "What happened to the old one?"

"It got shot through." Bee replied, not holding back.

"What?" Felix muttered.

He then turned to his other side, and found R8, still holding his hand.

"Don't worry, R8." He assured. "I'm back."

He then rubbed the head of the stubby little Astromech Droid. R8 slowly made a wooing noise. But he turned back to Sabine.

"How did you make this…?" Felix asked, gently touching his new Arc Reactor.

"A long story." Sabine replied. "Wait, how did you know I made it?"

"Cause it tastes like coconut." Felix replied teasingly. "And metal."

Sabine laughed, and lightly punched Felix again. Felix rubbed his arm. The Ghost crew could do nothing but chuckle at the sight of this.

 _A few weeks later…_

Sabine, Kanan, Zeb, and Ezra ran down an alley as fast they can. They were being chased by an army of Stormtroopers, who were, as per usually, missing their targets.

"These guys never give up!" Zeb called, firing back.

The crew finally found some kind of cover, and that's when they began to fire back. The Stormtroopers also stopped, and fired on. One Stormtrooper threw a grenade near one of the rebels' cover, and that blew back Sabine. The Stormtroopers saw the opportunity to advance.

Sabine stood back up to find herself in front of some Stormtroopers. Just then, a swooshing sound can be heard from above. She smiled, and then pointed up. The Stormtroopers looked up. Darting down from the ground, was Felix. He had his wings folded behind him, giving him a more accelerated dive. The Stormtroopers fired madly, but Felix extended his wings, giving him some more some swerving options. Then, once he was close enough to the ground, he extended his feet downward, so that he would be able to land with his feet. The jetpack exerted full power, slowing him down. Using that brief moment, Felix flipped out his pistols and fired upon the Stormtroopers. They were all shot down just as Felix landed on the ground.

"Thanks for the wings!" He called to Sabine. "There's are so light!"

"You're welcome!" Sabine called back.

Felix then took to the air again, leaving Sabine to fire the Stormtroopers again.

"C'mon, lovebirds!" Kanan shouted. "Our rides here!"

Then, one by one, they all ran back to the Ghost. Zeb was the first one to enter, followed by Ezra. Kanan covered everyone's entrance. Sabine made a break for the Ghost from her cover, but one lucky Stormtrooper was able to get her leg, making her fall.

"Sabine!" Kanan called.

Sabine groaned from the pain, but continued on. Felix then swooped down, after kicking two Stormtroopers with a sideways split-kick. He picked up Sabine, bridal-style, and made it to the front of Ghost. Once they got in, Kanan gave Hera the go, and then the Ghost flew out of range of the Imperials.

Later, back at the main Phoenix Fleet, Felix has just established that he is now part of the Phoenix Cell, and will be going on several missions for them. But currently, he was relaxing on the Iced Shell with a nice mug of coffee. He was looking through some stuff when Sabine walked in.

"Oh, hey." Felix greeted. "What's up?"

Sabine rubbed her hands together.

"I don't know how else to tell you this…" She began.

"What's wrong?" Felix asked.

"Remember how you asked me how I was able to make your new Arc Reactor?" Sabine mentioned.

"Yeah…?" Felix replied, confused.

Sabine then snapped her fingers. R8 rolled in and began to project a hologram. She sat down next to Felix. R8 then slowly projected the hologram. It was of a young man and woman.

 _Record Log: 7E23. Arc Reactor Test 7-T_

"Wait…" Felix started. "Is that… my mom?"

The hologram then showed two people making the Arc Reactor. It was the same model that was currently inside Felix's chest. Once they had concluded, they cheered, but the recording cut back to the young man and woman.

 _Arc Reactor Test: Success. Conclusion: Kyber Crystals._

Then, the hologram project a blueprint of the Arc Reactor.

"Is this it?" Felix asked.

Sabine took this chance to place her hand in Felix's, fingers intertwining.

"No…" She said. "It's what comes after."

The projection stayed on the blueprint for a while. Then, it cut back to the young man and woman.

 **(Cue Rain – Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)**

 _Felix, my dear son. You won't be able to understand this right now. We're recording this into one of our Record Logs in the event that you would be able to listen to it._

 _To tell the truth, we used you as a wild experiment. We knew that the Arc Reactor we installed within you back then was only a prototype. Hammer forced us to accelerate on the project, so we had to rush it._

 _As you saw before, we have made the finished product, but we don't have enough resources. Since you will be exploring, we might as well give it to you, as you may be able to build it yourself._

Felix's eyes widened with disbelief and sorrow. Sabine could see.

 _Now, if you're listening to this now, we might not be around you… but… rest assured, we will completely understand us if you don't forgive us… but… if you do… thank you… and we're sorry for putting you through this…_

 _You carry an important burden now. You are the last reminder of us in the galaxy. Take pride… hold your head high… and live on…_

 _And… always remember… whether you choose to or not… we will be there for you… we love you…_

The hologram stopped. R8 beeped, and slowly exited, knowing that Felix and Sabine should be left alone for now.

"Hey…" Sabine spoke slowly. "If you want to be alone, I could leave…"

"Don't…" Felix replied solemnly.

Sabine saw that Felix had his free hand covering his eyes, but clear liquid was seeping through the cracks of his fingers. Sabine bit her lip, and just hugged Felix gently. Felix then slowly, and quietly cried onto her shoulder.

"A leave of absence?" Hera asked.

Hera and Commander Sato were currently in the main Phoenix Fleet vessel, and had just receiving something form Sabine. It was a request for a leave of absence. They were both surprised by this.

"Where is this coming from?" Sato asked.

"A… personal matter." Sabine replied sheepishly.

Hera looked into her eyes. As the mother of the Ghost crew, she understood what was going on.

"Alright, but only for a few days." Hera replied. "Then it's back to work."

"Thank you, Hera." Sabine said quickly. She then turned around and walked out.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Sato asked. "We could use her combat skills during a mission."

"We'll make-do with what we got, Commander." Hera answered.

Then, quietly and mother-like, she added, "And besides, she's still a teenager. She still has lot to live for."

Sabine quickly made it to the cockpit of the Iced Shell, where Felix was currently fiddling with the controls.

"Well?" Felix asked.

"I'm good!" Sabine replied, sitting down on the copilot's seat.

Felix made the final adjustments and grabbed the controls.

"So, where to?" He asked. "Somewhere Imperial, somewhere we won't be recognized, or a bit of both?"

Sabine turned to face Felix. She stood up and walked over to Felix. She placed both of her hands on his shoulders.

"I'll follow your lead." Sabine smiled. "Felix."

Then, cheekily, Sabine planted a small peck on Felix's cheek, and sat back down her seat.

"A bit of both!" Felix declared finally.

Then, he detached the Iced Shell from the Phoenix Home and flew into space. Then, with I Want You Back playing in the background, Felix pulled a lever, and the Iced Shell zoomed into hyperspace.


End file.
